Thursday, Clayton County District Attorney Tasha M. Mosley announced the recent conviction and sentencing of Leroy Forts, who was arrested in connection with a 2021 stabbing death.
A Clayton County jury returned a guilty verdict on one count of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Senior Judge Albert Collier presided over this case and promptly sentenced Forts to 25 years to serve.
At trial, the state showed that on Oct. 23, 2021, victim Jerry Hill was spending time at the home of friends in Jonesboro when the Forts also arrived at the home.
Hill was intoxicated and unprovoked when he slapped Forts once in the face.
Forts was not injured and initially walked away following the slap.
After the slap, Hill never touched or attempted to touch Forts again, but Hill did proceed to verbally antagonize Forts on and off for at least 30 minutes.
Eventually, Forts retrieved a large kitchen knife from his van, returned to the property, and stabbed Hill in the abdomen, killing him. Forts then fled the scene in his van.
At trial, Forts’ attorneys claimed that Forts stabbed Hill in self-defense; however, witnesses testified that Hill was unarmed during the entire incident and he never threatened to do anymore harm to Forts.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Myers with Assistant District Attorney Jocelyn Watkins as second chair.
Investigator Chad Watkins along with Victim Advocates Nerissa Sims and Candice Brown also played crucial roles in the prosecution of the case, the DA’s office said.
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