CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. – A Georgia woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after she was found guilty of murdering her husband, a retired officer with the Atlanta Police Department.
Last Thursday, a Clayton County jury found Tammare Elaine Lawrence, 49, guilty on all counts, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the 2020 homicide of her husband, retired APD officer Stanley Lawrence, according to a press release issued by the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office.
Stanley Lawrence died in the living room of the couple’s Riverdale home on Feb. 19, 2020, from a single gunshot wound to the chest, Law&Crime reported.
Once the jury delivered the guilty verdict, Superior Court Judge Aaron B. Mason ordered Tammare Lawrence to serve the maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. The judge also sentenced her to an additional five years for the weapons charge, which which will run consecutive to the life sentence.
The Lawrence trial lasted four days last week. The jury returned its guilty verdicts on all four counts against Tammare Lawrence after briefly deliberating for 34 minutes, the DA’s office said in its press statement.
“We hope the conviction of this crime brings some form of peace to the family of Mr. Lawrence,” Clayton County District Attorney Tasha M. Mosley said in a statement following the sentencing. “We will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of all Clayton County Citizens.”
At the time of the homicide, Stanley and Tammare Lawrence had only been married for about a year, according to Law&Crime. Their home was located in Riverdale, about 12 miles south of Atlanta.
Stanley Lawrence served as an officer with the Atlanta Police Department for nearly 30 years before retiring. Yet even after his retirement, he returned to the agency and assumed a role with the Police Athletic League (PAL). The man who stood at 6-foot-8-inches tall was also a standout basketball player at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs.
