On a September day in 1986, the body of George Willingham, a 30-year-old Black male, was found in a field near a freeway leading to Stone Mountain in Atlanta, Georgia. His clothes were in disarray, with his pants and underwear pulled down to his ankles and his shirt open, suggesting a sexual encounter had taken place before his death. An autopsy later confirmed this.
The investigation into his death revealed a particularly brutal murder; Willingham had been shot three times in the head, with the fatal shot being to the back of his skull. In addition to the gunshot wounds, he had been stabbed multiple times and his body was mutilated.
Willingham's murder was not an isolated incident. He was one of six victims in a string of killings that plagued Atlanta between December 1985 and October 1986. All the victims were young Black men, many of whom were known to frequent areas associated with sex work. The murders shared disturbing similarities: most victims were found nude from the waist down, had been shot or stabbed, and their bodies were left in isolated or abandoned locations.
The investigation led to the arrest of Michael Devern Terry, who confessed to all six murders, including that of George Willingham. Terry claimed the killings were acts of self-defense that occurred after disputes over payment following sexual encounters. In the case of Willingham, Terry stated that on the night of the murder, he had given Willingham money to buy marijuana, but Willingham returned with cocaine instead. An argument over the money ensued, during which Terry shot and stabbed him.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for the murder of George Willingham, citing the vile and depraved nature of the crime. Although the jury could not come to a unanimous decision on the death penalty, Terry was sentenced to a third consecutive life term. To avoid further trials for the other killings, he later pleaded guilty to the remaining murders and received three additional life sentences. Michael Terry is currently serving six consecutive life sentences for the murders.
