FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Minutes after Atlanta Police responded to reports of gunshots in a West Peachtree Street condo building, officers heard cries for help.
They opened the door and found Breanna Woods dying after being shot and attacked with a machete.
Officers found her boyfriend, Douglas Hairston, at a nearby Mellow Mushroom with blood on his clothes, says Fulton County Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney Jazmin Willingham.
Investigators said she planned to break up with him that day in 2023.
“They were together for a very short four months,” Willingham said.
Assistant D.A. Jazmin Dilligard said Woods fought until her final moment.
Assistant D.A. Aleeia Smith, Dilligard and Willingham were the three prosecutors set to be the trial team for Hairston’s case Tuesday, but he pleaded guilty to murder and other charges minutes before a newly selected jury would’ve entered the courtroom.
He was sentenced him to life with a possibility of a parole, plus 10 years suspended.
“He gave a statement while taking his plea,” Smith said. “He gave his condolences to the family.”
Hairston’s defense attorney, Gabe Banks, said his defense included his client’s long history of mental health illness, which went untreated for years. He also told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne why he may have waited until minutes before trial to make plead guilty.
“Sometimes when you have 12 in a box, things become more real for a defendant,” Banks said.
Breanna’s mom, Dana Brown, said she was on a FaceTime call with her daughter when Hairston walked in. She said he made an odd comment, but Breanna didn’t seem to know what to make of it and said she would call back later.
“And he was like hey, then he was, ‘It’s nice knowing you,’” she said.
“We need a family justice center here in Fulton County, so that victims will have resources, or we’re going to keep reporting about young women and men losing their life to domestic violence,” District Attorney Fani Willis said.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]