Background: Karlton Sirmons appears in Douglas County court in Georgia (WAGA/YouTube). Inset: Tavarus Joiner (GoFundMe).
A man in Georgia has learned his fate for kicking down the door of the home where his girlfriend was staying and shooting her cousin dead in front of his family.
Karlton Sirmons, 38, was sentenced by Douglas County Superior Court Judge Deah Warren to life without the possibility of parole plus 136 years. He was found guilty of malice murder in the death of 32-year-old Tavarus Joiner, as well as 21 other charges including felony murder and aggravated assault, the Villa Rica Police Department announced.
On Nov. 2, 2024, at about 6 a.m., Sirmons' girlfriend was staying at a home on Serenity Point Lane in Villa Rica, about 30 miles west of Atlanta.
It was Joiner's home, and authorities said Sirmons' girlfriend was staying with her cousin "to get away" from the defendant. Joiner lived there with his longtime girlfriend and their two children, regional NBC affiliate WXIA reported.
"Sirmons kicked in the front door" trying "to get to his girlfriend," according to the police department. "When the door burst open," Joiner "came to the top of the stairs to see what was happening and Sirmons shot him in the chest."
The defendant then walked up the stairs, where he fatally shot Joiner "in the back" and then shot his own girlfriend "eight times" and Joiner's girlfriend once in the leg. "He also pistol-whipped a 5-year-old boy who was in the room," the agency added.
The police department said its officers arrived "within minutes," but they didn't know whether Sirmons was still there. They cleared the home and began treating the victims, but Joiner was already dead.
The other victims were "quickly stabilized and transported to local hospitals." They told police that Sirmons was the shooter, and a nearby camera captured him leaving the home "within minutes of the initial 911 call."
Sirmons was "pulled over" closer to Atlanta "in less than three hours," police said. The defendant reportedly only stopped the attack because he had run out of bullets.
A GoFundMe set up for Joiner said "a monster" broke into the home "where he was sleeping with his family and killed him right in front of them."
"He did not know this man and did not deserve to lose his life protecting his family. But he did, and we are devastated and angry," the fundraiser goes on. "My son loved his two boys. They watched this killer take his life as well as shoot, beat, and break their mother's leg. She survived but has a long road to recovery."
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