Roy McKinney Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Shaquilla Weatherspoon

Husband Guilty in 2002 Murder of Wife

Atlanta—Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. (Atlanta Judicial Circuit) announces that, following his conviction, Roy L. McKinney (33) has been sentenced to life in prison plus five years to be served consecutively for the 1 June 2002 killing of his wife Shaquilla Weatherspoon (29), a security guard and part-time employee of the Fulton Sheriff’s Department working in the Grady Memorial Hospital Detention Facility. McKinney was found guilty of murder and cruelty to children.

Ms. Weatherspoon’s decomposed body was found by surveyors on 6 June 2002 in a wooded area near an abandoned Delta Air Lines facility at 3350 Greenbriar Parkway in southwest Atlanta. McKinney had filed a missing persons report with the Atlanta Police Department on 2 June after, he claimed, having not heard from his wife in over 24 hours. While the couple had known each other since high school and had been married for six years, Ms. Weatherspoon had been planning to leave the defendant due to their troubled relationship and had recently even purchased furniture for a new apartment. Because of the decomposed state in which the body was found, a cause of death cannot be conclusively determined, but strangulation is suspected.

“We want to acknowledge and applaud the outstanding investigative work done on this case by the Atlanta Police Department and Homicide Detective Velazquez, in particular,” says Mr. Howard. “Initially, there were very few leads to follow, but, thanks to old-fashioned police work and a solid prosecution, we were able to convict this defendant for this awful crime.”

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Cooke prosecuted the case. Atlanta Police Detective V. Velazquez and Alvin Winston of the District Attorney’s Office investigated, and Judge Michael Johnson presided.

CONTACT: Erik Friedly, 404.224.0560 (office); 770.583.6069 (pager); erik.friedly@co.fulton.ga.us