ATLANTA — Fulton County prosecutors say a killer’s own words convicted him of the murder of a 43-year-old Atlanta woman.
Prosecutors shared video of police interviews with Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne in which Kaheim Maddox identified himself as the person who shot Tomika Niles.
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“Who’s the one with the gun? You?” an investigator can be heard saying.
“I’m the one that shot her,” Maddox replied.
Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Scott Reed said Maddox shot and killed Niles in Aug. 2023.
“After slashing her, he picked up a gun, a firearm, a handgun and shot her once in the side of the neck," Reed said.
Prosecutors say it was his own words in the back of a police car that got him convicted.
“She took all my [expletive] money, man. Man, I took care of her,” Maddox said.
“He felt like it was justified for his $8,000 going missing,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told Winne.
Maddox’s attorneys argued it was self-defense.
“She had grabbed this big knife thing, and so I snatched it from her, then I swung it at her. And next thing I know, I grabbed his gun, and I shot her,” Maddox said in a police interview.
Prosecutors say that even if she pulled out a knife, he did not have the authority to shoot her.
“He claimed because she pulled a knife first and he disarmed her of the knife, that he then had the authority to slice and shoot her, which he did not because it was excessive,” said Deputy District Attorney Asia Baysah.
Reed said Maddox was already a repeat offender with past convictions, including robbery and aggravated assault in 2005 and possession of a firearm by convicted felon in 2017.
“I could have ran, which I chose not to do, because that was my house. I told my family, ‘Y’all come over and call the police,’” Maddox said.
Prosecutors say his recidivist status factored into Judge Thomas Cox’s sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus 35 years.
“Domestic violence is going on all over the world. It’s going on right now while we have this conversation. It impacts all races, all socioeconomic groups,” Willis said.
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