Breaking: Atlanta Man Who Poured Boiling Water on Same-Sex Couple Found Guilty on All Counts

Poured Boiling Water on His Own Girlfriend’s Son, Boyfriend, as They Slept

Martin Blackwell in February went into his girlfriend’s home, boiled water, then poured it on her son and her son’s boyfriend as they slept, in a horrific crime. The 48-year old Atlanta area man minutes ago was found guilty on all 10 counts, including aggravated assault and aggravated battery. 

Blackwell’s attorney tried to minimize the severity of his crimes.

“It’s one act,” Monique Walker told the jury, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It caused injury. It was distasteful, it was disrespectful. But it was not deadly. It was not intentional.”

It’s unclear how it could have not been intentional. Blackwell searched for the largest pot he could find to boil the water, the Journal-Constitution reports.

Prosecutors told a different tale, calling the act methodical and malicious, insisting Blackwell intended to hurt the sleeping couple Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert (photo).

“You don’t have the right to hurt [people] because you don’t like how they live their life,” assistant district attorney Fani Willis told the jurors. 

“It is a felony. And it’s a felonious act,” Willis said. “And he earned every count in the indictment.”

Caution: Disturbing image from Marquez Tolbert’s GoFundMe page:

 

 

 

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Image: Screenshot via WSB-TV