Austin Ford is a man who has been sentenced to death for the murder of an 18-year-old Gwinnett County teenager. Austin Ford will serve 20 years in jail for Tori Lang’s death, with part of his sentence being not having contact with Lang’s family for the first 10 years.
“The court directed a verdict on voluntary manslaughter over the state’s objection citing a lack of evidence,” Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Two juries were unable to reach a verdict on felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.”
Austin-Gatson said there was “a lack of direct evidence” that Ford was responsible for Lang’s death. The defense argued that Lang was suicidal and pulled the trigger herself, an argument that the state was unable to disprove. However, the defense didn’t affirmatively prove that Lang committed suicide either, according to court officials.
“The district attorney’s office is and will continue to support and pray for the victim’s family following the conclusion of this matter regarding their beloved daughter,” Austin-Gaston said.
Who is Austin Ford
Austin Ford is going to spend 20 years in jail for killing Tori Lang, a teen from Gwinnett Country. Austin Ford will spend 20 years in prison, according to the authorities, for his role in Tori Lang’s death. According to officials, a portion of his sentence includes avoiding Lang’s family for the first ten years. Ford was convicted of two counts of theft by taking and one count of concealing the death of another.
The prosecution advocated for the imposition of the maximum sentence of 30 years of imprisonment, contending that the gravity of the offence was such that it warranted the most severe penalty, notwithstanding the fact that this was Ford’s initial transgression.
Following character witness statements from Ford’s mother and former pastor, as well as victim impact statements from several members of Lang’s family, the judge pronounced the sentence for the three charges of which Ford was found guilty.
In April, Ford was convicted of concealing the death of another and of two theft-by-taking charges in relation to Lang’s demise. As a result of these convictions, he has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for concealing Lang’s death, and 10 years of probation for the theft of a vehicle, to be served concurrently with 10 years of probation for the theft of a firearm.
“This is unfortunate that we live in a time where you could abuse an animal and get more time than you would for, you know, the murder of a young teenager, innocent individual,” said Lang’s father Torrey Lang.
During the trial held in April, Ford was convicted of the charge of tampering with evidence, as she was accused of leaving her body in a park located in Gwinnett County.
However, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the murder charge, aggravated assault, and voluntary manslaughter, resulting in the first mistrial. The aforementioned charges were retried last week, but a second mistrial was declared when the jury failed to reach a verdict due to a deadlock. Furthermore, during the proceedings on Wednesday, Ford’s mother was sentenced to three days of imprisonment for being held in contempt of court after taking a picture of the jury during last week’s proceedings.
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