CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Canton man convicted of family violence and cruelty to children was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.
A Cherokee County jury convicted Morris Michael McCoy, 45, on Feb. 15 following a one-day trial.
McCoy was arrested on April 30, 2023, after police say he strangled a woman in the parking lot of the Walmart store on Riverstone Parkway in Canton as two children watched.
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According to police, while shopping with McCoy and the two children, the woman discovered that McCoy had drained their joint checking account.
The two began to argue and the argument eventually became physical when McCoy strangled her against a car in the parking lot.
“Domestic violence almost never starts with physical violence. Many of those caught up in the cycle of violence describe a slow escalation of control and isolation that eventually boils over, much like the evidence showed in this case,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ashe of the Domestic Violence Unit said. “Morris McCoy still doesn’t believe he did anything wrong. Luckily law enforcement and the jury both saw him for who he is – an abuser.”
McCoy was convicted of family violence aggravated assault and two counts of cruelty to children in the third degree.
McCoy was sentenced on Friday, Feb. 23.
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During the sentencing hearing, the State presented evidence that McCoy is a recidivist offender with at least four felony convictions in the past.
He will serve 10 years in prison and another 10 on probation after his release.
He is forbidden from contacting the victims.
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