COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of shooting a woman in her chest and waist and leaving her paralyzed in a road rage incident will spend the next 25 years in prison, according to the District Attorney of the Coweta Judicial Circuit.
Deanthony Clark, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and criminal damage to property last week, according to the district attorney's office. In alignment with his plea deal, a judge sentenced Clark to 25 years in prison followed by 15 years on probation.
Clark is tied to the April 20, 2021 shooting, prosecutors said. It was around 5:30 a.m. when the woman was leaving her overnight shift at Hello Fresh and drove onto Interstate 85 to go home. While traveling on the interstate, a vehicle driven by Clark approached the woman on the driver's side. Prosecutors said that's when Clark pulled out a handgun and fired several times at the woman, striking her in the chest and waist.
She was paralyzed instantly, according to officials.
The woman had called 911 saying she couldn't stop her vehicle because she couldn't feel or use her legs. She managed to maneuver her car to the side of the road, prosecutors said, and deputies were able to find her.
"This case is another example of a person needlessly resorting to violence to resolve a trivial problem," District Attorney John Herbert Cranford said in a news release.
Evidence revealed that Clark was also an employee at Hello Fresh at the time. He was under the impression that the woman had cut him off as they were leaving work, authorities said. The woman did not know Clark, officials said.
During the plea hearing the woman told the judge that this road rage incident had a profound impact on her, the district attorney's office said. She emphasized that Clark "had not broken her but made her stronger." She also thanked the sheriff's office and the court and said she would continue her journey to walk again.
