A Lithonia man was sentenced Monday to life plus 65 years for killing the father of his girlfriend’s children.
Charvez Ryals, 41, shot and killed Daniel Wise, 31, on March 10, 2018, in front of his three children, AJC.com previously reported. The oldest child was 9 at the time and the youngest was 4.
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The shooting happened during a custody exchange at the Chupp Road home of Regina Welch, the mother of the children, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Yvette Jones said in a new release.
After Wise put two of the three children in the backseat of his car, the former couple began to argue.
That’s when Ryals, who was nearby witnessing the argument, struck Wise’s head with a gun, the news release said. Ryals then fired his gun 13 times and struck Wise eight times.
Wise’s friend, Robbie Johnson, was in the front passenger seat of the car during the shooting, Jones said. He shielded the children by wedging himself between the two front seats. He was shot and survived a spinal injury.
The children were not hurt.
Credit: GoFundMe
Credit: GoFundMe
Although he was injured, Wise got in the car and drove until he crashed and lost consciousness, according to Jones.
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Ryals turned himself in three days after fleeing the scene, the news release said.
Ryals was convicted of murder, two counts of felony murder, five counts of aggravated assault, two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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