Convicted felon accused of killing girlfriend’s 5-year-old relative

ATLANTA — A convicted felon who spent time in prison for terrorizing women across metro Atlanta is back behind bars, accused of murdering a 5-year-old girl.

The murder of 5-year-old Savannah Adams broke the hearts of Atlanta police investigators including Capt. D'Andrea Price, who responded to a southwest Atlanta home Sunday night after getting reports of an injured child.

“It was a horrible death. I actually didn’t sleep that well that night from seeing her,” Price said. “You could basically see the visible bruising to her body and her face.”

The family member who found Savannah dead in her bed told police she was at work and had left the little girl with her boyfriend Ethan Gathright, 22.

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Gathright, a convicted felon who served time in prison after he was convicted for a string of violent robberies targeting women across DeKalb and Fulton counties, didn’t wait around but police eventually caught up with him, arresting him on a gun charge.

He's now charged with murder.

“I’m so sad for this mother and this child but at the same time, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the spotlight is going to be shown on how broken the system is,” said Laura King, one of Gathright’s victims.

King told Channel 2’s Michael Seiden that she can still remember her first encounter with the now- accused killer. It happened in July 2014.

“He and one other person beat me in a parking lot in Target in the middle of the day and tried to run me over with my car and kill me,” King said.

The following month, there was another vicious assault and carjacking outside the Tavern at Phipps Plaza.

Police say Gathright was part of a crew that punched a woman several times in the face before stealing her car.

The state Department of Pardons and Paroles sent Seiden a statement, saying:

“On the five year prison portion of his sentence he became parole eligible (by law according to his sentence) on April 19, 2016. He served another 2 years in prison before being granted parole in May of 2018, having served 75% of his prison sentence before being granted parole. He discharged parole ending the five year prison sentence on August 19, 2019. He then began serving the probation portion of his sentence.”

The family of Savannah have set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral expenses.

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