Four members and one associate of a white supremacist gang were sentenced on Monday and Tuesday for a fatal home invasion in which one of them murdered a 14-year-old girl who was trying to defend the residence.
Justin Cayne Ramsey, 24, is getting the most serious punishment — life with the possibility of parole after 30 years — because he pulled the trigger of what prosecutors in Coweta County, Georgia, describe as the “AK-47-style rifle” that killed young Haley Adams,
But his four co-defendants also played a role that on that fateful Feb. 11, 2020 night.
William Autrey Tyree, 35, was something of the mastermind of the botched home invasion. According to authorities, he harbored a personal vendetta against a man living at the residence. He was also a high-ranking member of the Ghost Face Gangsters, a white supremacist gang. Prosecutors said he directed fellow members Aubrie Leigh Brown, 29, Kyle Ray Conley, 40, and Ramsey to the target residence. Spencer Wix, who is not a member of the gang but is Brown’s brother, also went there under Tyree’s order, authorities said.
Top row: Aubrie Brown, Justin Cayne Ramsey, and Spencer Wix. Bottom row: William Tyree, and Kyle Conley. Ramsey shot and killed 14-year-old Haley Adams during a home invasion, but authorities said all five defendants played a role in that incident. (Screenshot: WSB)
Tyree told the other four to scare the target and “rough him up,” as well as steal guns that he knew to be in the home, according to prosecutors. Ramsey was armed with the AK-47-style rifle, while Conley and Wix had handguns. Brown brought bags to carry out the stolen guns.
“After tormenting Haley’s mother at gunpoint, once the four perpetrators realized the man was not present, they abandoned the robbery plan and began to flee,” prosecutors wrote. “As they ran outside, Haley, who had been hiding in her room during the invasion, retrieved a BB pistol and chased after the intruders. As she was on the front porch with the BB gun in hand, Ramsey opened fire at her, striking her once in the back, a wound to which she ultimately succumbed later that night.”
UPDATE: Five people have been arrested in connection to the murder of 14-year-old Haley Adams. She was shot and killed during a home break in in Coweta County last week. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/y8Wm22fnEt
— Janice Yu (@JaniceYuNews) Feb. 21, 2020
The sentences come after all five defendants plead guilty to a range of crimes in connection with the home invasion.
Ramsey had pleaded guilty to charges including felony murder, violations of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, and home invasion in the first degree.
Brown pleaded guilty in late November 2023 to charges including the street gang act violation, voluntary manslaughter, and home invasion in the first degree. She was sentenced to serve 50 years, with the first 30 to be served in prison, prosecutors said.
Conley pleaded guilty in April 2022 to charges including the street gang act violation, voluntary manslaughter, and home invasion in the first degree. He was sentenced to serve 40 years, with the first 25 years to be served in prison.
Tyree pleaded guilty in August 2023 to charges including the street gang act violation, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to 60 years, with the first 35 years to be served in prison without parole, prosecutors said.
Wix pleaded guilty in April 2022 to charges including voluntary manslaughter and home invasion in the first degree. He was sentenced to serve 40 years, with the first 25 years to be served in prison.
“This case shows the harm that all street gangs do to our community and the devastation they cause to victims and their families,” Coweta County District Attorney John Herbert Cranford, Jr. said. “The view of the District Attorney’s Office is that street gang members who commit gang crimes should be sent to prison. And if those crimes are violent, they should be sent to prison for decades. While our criminal justice system obviously cannot compensate for the loss of Haley Adams, the District Attorney’s Office is satisfied that justice was done in this case and that our community is safer as a result of these sentences.”
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