Ex-UWG professor sentenced to life for murder of freshman student
University of West Georgia professor Richard Sigman, who was charged with the murder of 18-year-old Anna Jones, appears before a Carroll County judge on August 1, 2022. (FOX 5)
A former University of West Georgia professor will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the 2022 deadly shooting of a freshman in a parking deck in Carroll County.
Richard Sigman, 49, of Carrollton pleaded guilty on Monday to malice murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Sigman negotiated a deal to allow for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors say that could happen when he is 77.
Coweta Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Dustin Hightower sentenced Sigman to serve life in prison, with the possibility of parole, followed by fifty-five years to serve in prison consecutively.
Richard Sigman (Carroll County Sheriffs Office)
Sigman was scheduled in court in late November for trial.
Prosecutors say the family of 18-year-old Anna Jones, who Sigman now admits to killing, say they will be ready with a letter to the parole board letters opposing Sigman’s parole consideration in 2052.
UGA freshman Anna Jones shot, killed in parking deck
Anna Jones was just 18 and a freshman at the University of West Georgia the morning she was killed.
The deadly shooting happened at around 12:30 a.m. on July 30. She was rushed to Tanner Medical Center, but doctors were unable to save her.
Investigators uncovered Sigman had gotten extremely drunk in Leopoldo’s Pizza Napoletana in Adamson Square in downtown Carrollton. He had gotten into a fight there with police saying he threatened to shoot the guy with which he was arguing. Security saw it and told him to leave.
That’s when detectives say he stumbled into the courthouse parking deck about a block away, pulled out his gun, and knocked on the passenger side window of the car in which Jones and two of her girlfriends, both of which were also college students, was sitting.
Anna Jones, 18, was shot and killed in the Carroll County courthouse parking deck on July 30, 2022. (Family photo)
The girls were naturally frightened and tried to back out of the parking spot. Investigators say they don’t know why Sigman did it, but he opened fire three times. One of those bullets struck Jones in the head, killing her.
Police arrived quickly at the scene. Sigman told them someone had shot at him and he had returned fire in self-defense. Investigators did not believe him.
Recreating the scenario using cameras and witness testimony, investigators were able to piece together the truth behind the Sigman’s actions.
The university immediately fired Sigman and offered counseling to anyone who was touched by the events of that summer night.
The district attorney’s office says while every murder case is tragic, this one was particularly devastating given the girl’s age and the fact her two friends witnessed it. The DA’s office also says it was the fact that it was so random with the girls not doing anything to even draw attention to them.
The DA’s office also says they hope the plea deal will help bring family and friends some sort of closure.