In April 2024, Jonathan Bates decided to skip his trial for killing his wife in their Paulding County home.
But this time, Bates couldn’t run away.
On Tuesday, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
On May 5, 2017, Bates called 911 to report that his wife was injured when the two fought inside their W.I. Parkway home. The couple’s children, then ages 4 and 7, witnessed the fight, according to investigators.
Bates admitted to police that he pushed his 28-year-old wife while their two children were in the room, officers wrote in the incident report. Cynde Bates hit her head on a sofa and her husband said she was having trouble breathing, the report states.
Cynde Bates died from blunt force trauma to the head, investigators determined. The day before she was injured, she had told her husband she wanted a divorce, her family said.
Jonathan Bates was charged with murder after his wife’s death. But the following month, Judge Tonny Beavers said he only found probable cause for a battery charge and dropped the murder and cruelty to children charges.
But the case wasn’t dropped. In 2022, Bates was indicted by a grand jury on 11 charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and cruelty to children, Paulding court records show.
Credit: Dawson County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Dawson County Sheriff's Office
After being granted a $16,500 bond, Bates didn’t return for an October 2022 court date and stayed on the run until two days after his trial was to begin last April.
When Bates didn’t show up for his trial, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service was notified, the Paulding sheriff’s office, and he was arrested in Dawson County and returned to Paulding.
“I am grateful for the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and the interagency cooperation which quickly led to the arrest of Jonathan Bates,” former Paulding Sheriff Gary Gulledge said at the time.
Beavers, who has since retired, recused himself from the case. Judge David Emerson, a senior superior court judge from Douglas County, presided over the recent trial for Bates, court records show.
Bates, now 56, was also convicted of two counts each of aggravated assault and cruelty to children, court records show.
After his conviction, the attorney for Bates immediately filed a motion for a new trial. The hearing for the motion was scheduled for June 11.
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