Lithonia man sentenced to 70 years after shooting wife for filing for divorce

DEKALB COUNTY, GA—DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a conviction by jury trial in the case of a Lithonia man charged with shooting his wife after she filed for divorce. 

Jurors found Dmante Dontrell Anderson, 33, guilty on two counts of Aggravated Assault—Family Violence, False Imprisonment, Simple Battery—Family Violence, two counts of Cruelty to Children in the Third Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony and Use of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the shooting of his wife on June 14, 2019. 

According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded at approximately 9:40 p.m. to a report of a person shot at an apartment complex on Concepts 21 Drive in Lithonia.  When they arrived, they found a woman sitting on the ground in front of her apartment building bleeding profusely.  Her husband, Anderson, was standing next to her, along with one of the couple’s children.  The victim immediately told officers that her husband had shot her, but Anderson claimed his wife had shot herself.

Police arrested Anderson and paramedics rushed his wife to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment. 

While at the hospital, the victim told investigators that she had filed for divorce and her husband had been served the papers earlier that day.  When she got home, he was asleep.  When he woke up, Anderson heard his wife talking on the phone and became enraged.  He grabbed a gun and forced his wife into their bedroom where he accused her of cheating on him and then opened fire, shooting her in the cheek, fracturing multiple bones throughout her face.  The couple’s children were home at the time and witnessed the violence, police said. 

After the shooting, Anderson’s wife ran outside to get help and a neighbor called police, according to the investigation.

Senior Judge Daniel Coursey, sitting for the DeKalb County Superior Court, presided over the trial, handed down the sentence on Monday, Jan. 13.  Immediately following the guilty verdicts, Judge Coursey sentenced Defendant Anderson to 70 years to serve 63 in confinement with the balance on probation. 

The case, assigned to the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Garrett Emmons, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Ryan Patrick, District Attorney Investigator Jerad Wheeler and Victim Advocate Ashley King.  DeKalb County Police Department Detective Evans led the initial investigation.