A Gwinnett County man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty in a 2024 parking lot killing outside an extended-stay hotel on Stone Mountain Highway.
On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Hugh Donovan Forman to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus five additional years, for the October shooting that left 60-year-old Victor Ricks dead behind the Budgetel Inn and Suites on Stone Mountain Highway.
The punishment of life without parole, plus five years, followed Forman’s conviction on multiple counts, including murder and weapons offenses, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office outlined the outcome for reporters after the verdict and sentencing.
Charges and conviction
Prosecutors secured guilty verdicts on malice murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children and related firearm charges. Those counts match the accusations initially filed following the October 11, 2024 shooting, as described in a Gwinnett County Police Department news release.
The shooting and arrest
Officers responded on October 11, 2024, to a 911 call at the rear parking lot of the Budgetel Inn and Suites at 4350 Stone Mountain Highway, where they found Ricks suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was rushed to a hospital and later died of his injuries, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution…