MARIETTA, Ga. — Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds tells Channel 2 Action News that a man has been sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for killing a teenage prostitute in Georgia.
Ricardo Laron Harris, 35, of Rochester, New York, was convicted last month of murdering Yvonne Denise James, 19, in the early-morning hours of New Year’s Day 2013 inside her rented room at the Howard Johnson Inn on Delk Road in Marietta.
According to police, Harris was a client of James’ and was inside her room for about 90 minutes before he dialed 911 to report that someone had been killed. An autopsy found James died of blunt-force trauma and had been drowned. In addition to malice and felony murder, Harris was convicted of aggravated battery and concealing a death.
During the sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, James’ mother and a cousin told the court about her love of life, according to officials.
"No family should ever have to endure what this one did -- learning the details of their 19-year-old loved one's brutal death at the hands of a serial predator with a history of violence toward women," said Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans, who prosecuted the case. "But, they were thankful that the system worked here and that in all likelihood Ricardo Harris will never be able to do this to another human being."
Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert E. Flournoy III sentenced Harris to life in prison plus an additional 10 years.
Roswell attorney Thomas Ford represented the defendant, who has been in custody since James’ death.