District Attorney Paul Howard Announces Indictment in Murder of Sheriff's Department Employee

Roy McKinney Charged in 2002 Murder of Wife

Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. (Atlanta Judicial Circuit) announces that Roy L. McKinney (31) has been indicted on one count of murder 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. 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, we were able to conclusively charge this suspect."

These charges are merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

CONTACT: Erik Friedly, 404-224-0560 (office); 404-533-1381 (pager)