Tracen Franklin will not get the death penalty after being charged with slaying peer

After six weeks of deliberation, jurors have ruled out the possibility of Tracen Franklin receiving the death penalty for murdering Bobby Tillman in 2010, relieving the stress of his mother.

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By Kameron Joshua Copeland

Sonia Barber has become relieved that her twenty-year-old son will not face the death penalty after being found guilty for violently murdering Bobby Tillman in 2010.

Barber’s son Tracen Franklin partook in the slaying of Tillman on November 6, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, at the conclusion of a party held by the parents of two teen girls. He was randomly kicked and punched by Franklin and others for approximately thirty seconds, resulting in a tear in Tillman’s heart.

After the parents of the two girls ended the party for getting to large, girls began to fight over a boy. When one of the girls hit Franklin’s friend Emanuel Boykins, both Franklin and Boykins randomly attacked Tillman. Franklin and Tillman were both young college students at the time with sports-related majors.

Barber is very content that her son is not facing the death penalty, as she skipped from a state of intense sadness to joyfulness. She states that she did not raise her son to be in prison, as she hopes that her son will someday gain freedom.

While jurors decided not to execute her son on Friday, the Judge will decide whether or not Franklin will get life with parole.

Boykins said he’s sorry for the heartache he has caused Tillman’s mother, sister, friends and relatives.

Boykins admitted that on the night of  Nov. 6, 2010, he threw the first punch that ended with the Tillman’s murder outside a house party in Douglasville.

Bobby Tillman’s mother, Monique Rivarde, stopped in the studio to give us her thoughts on the verdict and how she and her family are STILL dealing with the tragic death of her son. Click the audio links to hear the conversation…

A Douglas County judge has sentenced Emanual Boykins to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the November 2010 stomping death of teen Bobby Tillman.

Boykins received the life sentence after pleading guilty. He would be eligible for parole after serving 30 years.

Tillman was beaten to death in front of a Douglasville house where two teenage girls were throwing a party to celebrate good grades. The case drew national attention and contributed to the national conversation about bullying.

Boykins, along with Tracen Franklin, Quantez Devonta Mallory and Horace Damon Coleman, were all charged in the killing. The teenage defendants were among several people who crashed what was to have been a party for about 10 teens.

Two girls who crashed the party started a fight in the house and it continued outside. At some point a girl hit a male at the party, but the male refused to strike the female and vowed to instead strike the next male who walked by.

The next male to walk by was Tillman. His heart was punctured during the beating, which led to his death.

Adding to the tragedy, Tillman’s mother, Monique Rivarde, said her son had asked for permission to go to the party after attending a church event on bullying. Rivarde and her two children had moved to Douglasville from Los Angeles only five months earlier.

Read more at the AJC.

RELATED:

One Teen To Plead Guilty To Murdering Bobby Tillman

Suspects Deny Killing Bobby Tillman In Jailhouse Interview [VIDEO]

Stomping Punctured Douglasville Teen’s Heart

Georgia Teenage Party-Goer Beaten To Death In Unprovoked Attack

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Bobby Tillman was killed last November

One of the teens involved in the vicious assault that killed 18-year-old Bobby Tillman at a Douglasville house party last November has agreed to plead guilty to murdering him, reports the AJC.com.

Emanuel Boykins, the 18-year-old who threw the first punch that started the random, fatal attack on Tillman, has agreed to plead guilty to felony murder.

The other three defendants charged with Tillman’s beating death have until 5 pm Wednesday (June 8) to decide if they will plead guilty as well. If they don’t, Douglas County will press ahead with death penalty cases against the men.

When Boykins pleads guilty to felony murder on June 29, the malice murder charge will reportedly be dropped.

Boykins and the three other defendants — 18-year-old Quantez Devonta Mallory and Tracen Lamar Franklin and Horace Damon Coleman,  both 19 — had initially proclaimed their innocence, saying in a television interview that someone else killed Tillman. The accused even sent condolences to Tillman’s family in the interview.

Read the full story here.

RELATED: Suspects Deny Killing Bobby Tillman In Jailhouse Interview [VIDEO]

RELATED: Stomping Punctured Douglasville Teen’s Heart

RELATED: Georgia Teenage Party-Goer Beaten To Death In Unprovoked Attack

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Four teenagers are facing murder charges today after an 18-year-old party-goer was beaten to death in an unprovoked attack.

By JAMES WHITE
Last updated at 6:57 PM on 8th November 2010

Four teenagers are facing murder charges today after an 18-year-old party-goer was beaten to death in an unprovoked attack.

Bobby Tillman died in an attack in which he was beaten and stamped on at a house in Atlanta, Georgia.

In an act of shocking brutality, one of his alleged attackers was said to have told friends he would hit the next person who walked past, before others joined in.

Accused: Emanuel Boykins, left, and Quantez Mallory, both 18 are alleged to have beaten Bobby Tillman to death in Atlanta, Georgia

Horace Coleman, 19; Emanuel Boykins, 18; Quantez Mallory, 18; and Tracen Franklin, 19; face a single murder count each.

Lt. Bruce Ferguson, of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, said one of the attackers allegedly told friends he would hit the next person he saw.

Murder charge: Horace Coleman

They were arrested after emergency services were called to the party in the early hours of Sunday morning to reports of a fight.

Sheriff Phil Miller said the assault on Tillman was unprovoked.

The victim was a ‘little guy, 18 years old, 5ft 6in, weighed 125 pounds,’ Miller said.

‘And they beat him up and stomped him and killed him,’ he added.

Police who were called to the party by the host’s mother held 57 witnesses for questioning.

There were so many people at the party that a Sheriff’s Office bus was used to take them away from the scene.

Ed Stephens, who lives near where the party took place, watched the brutal attack from his bedroom window.

‘I just thought he was hurt. I never thought that his life was ending,’ he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1327752/Bobby-Tillman-beaten-death-unprovoked-attack-4-teenagers.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz14uEWI4Cf

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