Crime & Safety

DeKalb County Mother Guilty of Manslaughter, Sentenced to 35 Years

Angel Johnson was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for barricading her three children in a room and leaving them home alone. A fire started that killed two of the youngsters.

A DeKalb County jury on Friday convicted a mother of multiple charges for leaving her three children alone in 2010 when a space heater started a blaze that killed two of the youngsters.

Angel Johnson was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree cruelty to children and making false statements because she lied about leaving three of her four children alone in a Stone Mountain apartment on Dec. 10, 2010, according to a news release from the office of the DeKalb County district attorney.

Johnson was sentenced to 35 years, 20 of which she must serve, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Angel Johnson and Keith Pinkney left Johnson's 2, 3 and 4-year-old children unsupervised in a Stone Mountain apartment complex on December 10, 2010, reports WGCL TV.

Firefighters were called to the Marquis Chase Apartments on Ashley Place in DeKalb County that night about 11 p.m. Authorities said a space heater caught fire to items in the bedroom where Jonson had barricaded the young children, the district attorney’s office said.

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“The negligence of Angel Johnson led to the death of two of her young children who died a horrific death that was 100% preventable,” said District Attorney Robert James. “Instead of caring for her children, she went on a joyride with her boyfriend to buy burgers and wine. Her careless acts that December night claimed two innocent young lives.”

Keith Pinkney, Johnson’s co-defendant and boyfriend at the time, was not tried with Johnson. His trial has yet to be scheduled.


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