It was the kind of argument that could crop up any time between a mother and a teenage son.
Anthony Tyrone Terrell, then 17, broke the rules by inviting a girl over to his Lawrenceville house without supervision on Feb. 28, 2008. But instead of resulting in a shouting match or slamming door, it ended with the slaying of his mother, Joy Deleston, who was a Gwinnett County sheriff's deputy, and her two young daughters.
Terrell pleaded guilty to murder charges Friday and was sentenced to back-to-back life terms. He apologized and said he wished he could trade his life for the lives of the departed. But he was hard-pressed to explain how an argument so trivial could prompt a reaction so brutal.
"I never planned what happened that day," Terrell said, his voice even as he read a prepared statement before Superior Court Judge Debra Turner. "My mom and I got into a disagreement and things just spiraled out of control."
Prosecutors said after the pair argued Terrell retrieved his mother's service handgun and shot her twice.
Terrell's half-sister Micaiah was an 11-year-old whom relatives described as happiest when she was reading a book. She saw her mom get shot and started screaming. Terrell turned and fired several times, killing her. Then he went upstairs to find 4-year-old Jelani, a talkative, inquisitive child who Terrell affectionately called his "homie," relatives said. He kissed her and then shot her twice in the chest.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said Terrell told investigators he killed her because he didn't want her to grow up without a mother.
Terrell said he considered committing suicide next.
"That night my plan was to take my own life, but in the end I was unable to shoot myself," Terrell said.
TOKIO MYERS / MOONRUNNERS
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