A Decatur man was sentenced to life in prison plus five years for killing his high school girlfriend after she broke up with him, according to the DeKalb County district attorney.
Deeron Hicks, 25, was convicted Thursday of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the Nov. 25, 2022, shooting death of Ja’Nautica Whitehead. She was shot in the head while she was in her car, according to investigators. Whitehead, 19, died from her injuries.
The following day, DeKalb officers found Whitehead’s body in her vehicle parked in a wooded area off Snapfinger Parkway, police said. Phone records showed Hicks had followed Whitehead on her way to work and called her several times until she pulled over, the DA’s office said. Then, Hicks shot her.
He was charged with Whitehead’s murder and arrested Dec. 17, 2022.
According to investigators, Whitehead enrolled in college and attempted to distance herself from Hicks, her high school boyfriend. That led Hicks to become increasingly violent and controlling.
“In the months before her murder, Hicks repeatedly hit and strangled Whitehead, and threatened her with a firearm,” according to a spokesperson for the DA’s office. “Just two weeks before murdering her, Defendant Hicks showed up at the Waffle House where she worked, lured her to the parking lot, strangled her and chased her with a gun.”
Hicks has been held in the DeKalb jail since his arrest.
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