COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — The cousin of a slain off-duty Coweta County deputy is now sentenced to spend life in prison for his shooting death.
According to a release from the District Attorney Coweta Judicial Circuit, a jury found Danny Long guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and criminal use of a gun with an altered identification mark on Friday, July 2 after a week-long trial.
Deliberations lasted until 11 p.m. that night.
CASE HISTORY
On April 30, 2019, law enforcement was called to a home on Snow Fall Terrace at Alpine Way in Palmetto, Georgia just after 9:30 p.m. They found an off-duty Coweta County sheriff's deputy, 25-year-old Edmond Irwin, shot dead.
The GBI says Irwin got into a physical fight with his cousin, 17-year-old Long, that Tuesday night.
The DA's office says the fight stemmed from Irvin speaking to Long about staying out late, getting in trouble, and disrespecting his mother, who is also Irvin's cousin.
About 10 minutes later, Long went into his bedroom, pulled a gun from his dresser, and put it in his pocket, according to the release.
The release states Irwin tried to wait a few minutes for Long to decompress before he went to Long's bedroom to bring his jacket back to him. Long told authorities Irwin was trying to "be nice" to him when Irwin went inside the room, but he was still angry.
That's when Long yelled at Irwin, shoved him, and the two started fighting, according to the district attorney's office.
Witnesses testified saying they heard long yell, 'I ain’t no punk b**ch!” before hearing the sound of three gunshots.
One of those shots fatally injured Irvin.
That's when Long threatened to shoot and kill Irvin's fiancée and then ran out of the house, the release states. She was five months pregnant with the couple's son at the time of his death.
Neighbors told authorities they heard Long say "I’m going to kill every motherf****er in that house."
Authorities later caught up with Long a few miles away near exit 56, right off I-85.
Judge Travis Sakrison sentenced Long to serve life in prison, followed by 25 years in prison.