I had totally forgot about this case until recently. For those that don’t  here is the breakdown. Two years ago, Anthony Tyrone Terrell invited a girl over his house without permission. After getting into an argument with his mother, all hell literally broke loose. No one will ever know what came over Tyrell then, but what we do know is that three people ended up deceased – his mother (Joy Deleston, who was a Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy) and her two younger daughters.

Terrell pleaded guilty to murder charges Friday and was sentenced to back-to-back life terms. He apologized and said he wished he could trade his life for the lives of the departed. But he was hard-pressed to explain how an argument so trivial could prompt a reaction so brutal.

“I never planned what happened that day,” Terrell said, his voice even as he read a prepared statement before Superior Court Judge Debra Turner. “My mom and I got into a disagreement and things just spiraled out of control.”

Prosecutors said after the pair argued Terrell retrieved his mother’s service handgun and shot her twice.

Terrell’s half-sister Micaiah was an 11-year-old whom relatives described as happiest when she was reading a book. She saw her mom get shot and started screaming. Terrell turned and fired several times, killing her. Then he went upstairs to find 4-year-old Jelani, a talkative, inquisitive child who Terrell affectionately called his “homie,” relatives said. He kissed her and then shot her twice in the chest.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said Terrell told investigators he killed her because he didn’t want her to grow up without a mother.

That’s heavy stuff. The story takes another turn once your realize the four year old was Juvenile’s daughter. Like I said before, I had totally forgotten about this case, but any time someone loses a child, you always feel for them. When looking at the entire situation, it’d be hard to imagine the family of the victims finding any remorse for the young man. But they did. Dominic Ross – father of Micaiah – and Mildred Richardson – Joy Deleston’s mother – both found some strain of compassion in their heart to forgive the young man who altered the course of their families’ histories forever.

Richardson begged the judge to give Terrell one life sentence, instead of two, because he would be eligible for parole sooner.

“In my heart, I know he didn’t mean to do this,” she said.

I guess love really is stronger than hate.