A Georgia woman who’s behind bars over an alleged knife attack against one man has been found guilty in the cold case stabbing death of another man, who was discovered dead at home by his sister in 2019, authorities said.
Carmen Marie Hunt was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with the July 2019 killing of Ray Anthony Neal, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
At the end of her jury trial, Hunt, 52, was convicted of malice murder and two counts of felony murder in relation to the deadly stabbing, the district attorney’s office announced in a Tuesday, August 25 news release.
“I am thankful that our cold case team consistently worked this case to a successful conclusion,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement.
Neal, 61, was found dead in his home by his sister after she brought him to his residence in Lawrenceville the previous night, on July 19, 2019, according to prosecutors. She went to check on him the next day when she didn’t hear from him.
“Subsequent investigation determined that he had been stabbed to death,” the district attorney’s office said. “Over several years, police investigated the case, interviewing witnesses and examining evidence found at the scene.”
A few years later, in 2022, someone saw Hunt stab another man, Derrick Gray Young, who survived the attack, according to prosecutors.
Knives used in the assault against Young, then 58, were ultimately linked to Hunt, the district attorney’s office said.
She ended up pleading guilty to aggravated assault in connection with Young’s stabbing, according to prosecutors.
A break in Neal’s cold case came when fingerprints from the 2022 stabbing matched a fingerprint at Neal’s crime scene, prosecutors said.
When authorities initially investigated Neal’s death, Hunt said she had seen him the same night his sister had dropped him off at his house, according to prosecutors, but “denied attacking him.”
Gwinnett County Police Department Sgt. Micah Hegwood told Fox 5 Atlanta in January 2025 that Hunt had used the same kitchen knife in the attacks against Neal and Young.
After Hunt was charged in connection with Neal’s death, Ashli Haynes, Neal’s niece, told Fox 5 Atlanta at the time that “I don’t know if we’re ever going to be relieved because we lost someone senselessly.”
While on trial for Neal’s killing, jurors watched a video of Hunt during a police interview, the district attorney’s office said.
After investigators stepped out of the room, Hunt was heard saying “you didn’t get away with this murder,” according to prosecutors.
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