A Cobb County grand jury has indicted a man accused of killing a young couple on 13 counts, including malice murder, according to the district attorney.
Matthew Scott Lanz is accused of a November crime spree that killed two people and injured two officers about 20 miles apart in Cobb and Fulton counties. The incidents started as home invasions, police previously said, and quickly turned violent.
Late Thursday, Lanz was indicted on numerous charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, home invasion, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and child cruelty. His case in Fulton is pending, court records showed.
The violence began when 22-year-old Lanz allegedly broke into a home in his Acworth-area neighborhood on the evening of Nov. 17. There, he killed Justin and Amber Hicks, a Cherokee County firefighter and his wife, who had just bought their Verbena Drive home in August, according to Cobb police and property records. The couple was found around 9:30 a.m. the following morning. Their 2-year-old son was in the home but not harmed.
Lanz then allegedly broke into additional homes in Sandy Springs, according to police. When he was caught in the living room of a home, he stabbed an officer, police said. Another officer fired at Lanz, the GBI said.
Credit: South Canton Funeral Home
Credit: South Canton Funeral Home
After being treated at a hospital, Lanz was arrested and booked into the Fulton County jail. Sandy Springs police charged Lanz with 35 counts, including 34 felonies, court records show. His charges are: 10 counts of aggravated assault, 10 counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, 10 counts of felony obstruction, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count each of first-degree home invasion, possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
While in the Fulton jail, he was connected to the homicides in Cobb and charged with additional crimes.
Although Lanz has no known criminal record, his brother made national headlines in August. And he had been accused of previously breaking into the same home where the Hicks lived.
Lanz is the brother of Austin William Lanz, the man who fatally stabbed a police officer at a bus stop near the Pentagon in August, according to police. After stabbing George Gonzalez, 27-year-old Austin Lanz used the officer’s service weapon to kill himself outside the headquarters of the U.S. military, the FBI Washington field office said.
Matthew Lanz remained Friday in the Fulton jail, where he is being held without bond.
About the Author
