A neighborhood feud that started with puppies has ended with a life sentence for a 75-year-old Lawrenceville man.
Stanley Nathaniel Elliott was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus five years after a jury found him guilty in the 2021 shooting death of 44-year-old Anthony Collins. Prosecutors said Collins was walking Jack Russell puppies along Riverside Parkway when he was shot. Jurors heard that months earlier, Elliott and Collins had clashed after Elliott allegedly tried to hit the dogs with a metal rod, and they were shown footage of a man raising his arm to fire.
Verdict and sentence
The jury convicted Elliott of felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm, and a judge imposed a life term with the possibility of parole plus five years, according to CBS News Atlanta. Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said her office hopes the outcome brings some measure of closure for Collins’ loved ones and stressed that, in her words, “violence, and especially deadly violence, is not the answer for solving any dispute.”
How police tracked him down
Investigators zeroed in on Elliott after reviewing surveillance footage from the area. He was arrested in March 2021 and charged in the killing, WSB-TV reported. At the time, police said Collins was found near his car on Riverside Parkway near McKendree Elementary School and released video of a man walking in the area whom officers described as carrying a large stick.
Evidence shown at trial
During trial, prosecutors said the gun used in the killing was found inside a motorboat parked in Elliott’s garage and tied it to the fatal confrontation that followed the earlier dispute over the puppies, according to CBS News Atlanta. Jurors were shown footage that officials said shows a man resembling Elliott raise his arm after a brief interaction with a man walking dogs.
After the sentence
With the life-plus-five-years sentence handed down, Elliott will enter the state corrections system, with any parole eligibility governed by Georgia procedures. Prosecutors said they hope the verdict offers some comfort to Collins’ friends and family and serves as a reminder that deadly force is never an acceptable way to settle a neighborhood dispute.
