Gwinnett woman, 52, gets life sentence in cold case drug deal stabbing murder

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA – A Dacula woman already in jail for attacking a man with a knife was convicted of murder and for fatally stabbing a man she was trying to buy drugs from.

Carmen Marie Hunt, 52, was found guilty of malice murder and two counts of felony murder for the cold case July 2019 stabbing death of 61-year-old Ray Anthony Neal. Hunt was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“I am thankful that our cold case team consistently worked this case to a successful conclusion,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said.

Neal’s sister dropped him off at his Lawrenceville home on the night of July 19, 2019. When he wasn’t heard from the following day, she went to the home to discover that he was dead. Subsequent investigation determined that he had been stabbed to death. Over several years, police investigated the case, interviewing witnesses and examining evidence found at the scene.

In 2022, the defendant was arrested when she stabbed the then-58-year-old Derrick Gray Young in Lawrenceville in front of a witness. Young survived. Police located the knives used in the incident and connected them to Hunt, who eventually pled guilty to aggravated assault after initially claiming that she was defending herself from her victim’s attempts at sexual assault.

Investigators were able to match Hunt’s fingerprints to a fingerprint found in 2019 at the scene of Ray Anthony Neal’s murder. At the time of Neal’s investigation, Hunt admitted to seeing him the night before he was found dead. But she denied attacking him.

During the trial for Neal’s death, jurors heard Young’s testimony about the attack he endured from the defendant in 2022. The jury also saw a video of police interviewing Hunt and heard her mutter to herself when investigators left the room, “you didn’t get away with this murder.” Jurors deliberated for three-and-a-half hours before returning guilty verdicts on all charges.

Managing Assistant District Attorney Angela Mattozzi and Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Joseph prosecuted the case with assistance from Investigators Christian Robertson and Tochi Davis and Victim Witness Advocate Shenita Coward. Cold Case Investigators Andrew Waley and Richard Escher, Cold Case Assistant District Attorney Don Geary, and Complex Case Managing Assistant District Attorney Han Chung also aided.

The Gwinnett County Police Department, the Lawrenceville Police Department and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office were instrumental in closing the case, the District Attorney’s Office said. 

Pictured: Carmen Marie Hunt/Photo via Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.