On what should have been a routine trip from the airport on October 8, 2023, ended in tragedy for 71-year-old Andrew Michael Stankiewicz, a male from Colleyville, Texas. After being picked up from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport by his wife and 32-year-old stepson, JonThomas Oliver Cloud, the family was traveling along Interstate 85 in Troup County, Georgia. Cloud was seated in the back seat of the vehicle, while his mother was driving and Stankiewicz was in the front passenger seat. For reasons that remain unclear, Cloud produced a firearm and shot his stepfather three times in the back.
Following the shooting, Andrew Stankiewicz's wife drove directly to Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange. Upon their arrival at the hospital's ambulance bay, she alerted the authorities. Medical personnel in the emergency department were unable to save Stankiewicz, and he was pronounced dead. The Troup County Sheriff's Office began an investigation and observed blood on the front passenger seat and bullet holes in both the seat and the front window, indicating the shots were fired from within the vehicle.
Initially, JonThomas Oliver Cloud provided a fabricated story to investigators. He claimed that his mother had felt ill and pulled the car over. According to his false account, another vehicle stopped to check on them, and a couple emerged and got into an argument with his stepfather, which resulted in the shooting before the unknown couple fled the scene. However, the physical evidence contradicted his statement.
Confronted with the evidence, Cloud's story crumbled. He eventually admitted to shooting his stepfather and hiding the gun in a wooded area along the interstate before they continued to the hospital. He attempted to claim he acted in self-defense and in defense of his mother, but he was unable to provide any specific details of threats or violence from Stankiewicz to support this claim. Cloud was subsequently arrested and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and tampering with evidence. In a swift conclusion to the legal proceedings, a Troup County jury deliberated for only about 30 minutes before finding him guilty on all counts. JonThomas Oliver Cloud was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional five years to be served consecutively.
