Boy, 2, orphaned after his hardworking mother and father moved in next to neighbor from hell
A Georgia man allegedly gunned down his married neighbors during a break-in while their two-year-old was sound asleep.
Matthew Lanz has been accused of breaking into the home of Justin and Amber Hicks and fatally shooting them as their son was inside, back in November 2021.
Lanz’s long-delayed trial finally kicked off Monday, after years of legal wrangling over whether he was mentally fit to face the court.
A judge ruled the trial could commence in October, saying that after speaking with Lanz he ‘appeared to have the capacity to make rational decisions’ and had ‘a few minor outbursts that did not significantly disrupt the proceedings,’ CBS reported.
Surveillance video of the alleged gunman exiting the young couple’s home before fleeing to his Athens apartment was presented by prosecutors on Monday.
Police officers received a 911 call the next morning and arrived at the home to discover the unharmed two-year-old plastered in blood and hiding, prosecutors said.
Cops didn’t link Lanz to the double murder until he allegedly tried to break into two homes in Sandy Springs the next day.
Justin Hicks and wife Amber Hicks and their baby son from their Facebook pages
Amber Hicks shared a photo on Facebook of her family smiling in front of their new home on September 11, 2021
Matthew Lanz is accused of breaking into the Hicks’ home and fatally shooting them as their 2-year-old child was inside
Police arrived to find the suspect in one of the homes but he ran towards one of the officers, stabbing him several times.
Another officer shot at Lanz to end the one-man crime spree. The alleged gunman faces multiple charges including malice murder and child cruelty.
Defense attorneys argued that their client believed ‘he has been set up by either the FBI, CIA, or some government agency.’
The couple, both 31 , had just celebrated moving into their new home and were childhood friends-turned sweethearts, a relative said.
‘We would play kickball, and I remember at 12 years old, Justin telling us, “I’m going to marry her one day, I am going to marry her one day,”’ Amber’s cousin Kirstyn Bauer told 10 WBNS.
Justin was a firefighter and Amber was an audiology assistant. The alleged shooter lived on a property sharing a fence with the couple, Atlanta News First reported.
The Hicks family had just closed on their Verbena Drive home, a 3,000 square-foot corner lot that features a ‘secret garden-esque stone path’ that winds around to the backyard, where a professional-landscaped garden awaits, the listing said.
Justin was a firefighter for over six years and Amber was an audiology assistant
Lanz’s long-delayed trial finally kicked off Monday, after years of legal wrangling over whether he was mentally fit to face the court
Amber Hicks shared a photo on Facebook of her family smiling in front of their new home on September 11, 2021.
‘So happy to be moved,’ she exclaimed. ‘Loving our new home!’
At the time, a GoFundMe page was created to support Justin and Amber’s funeral, with their two-year-old son describing the couple as ‘two literal angels on Earth.’
