Matthew Baker acquitted in 2016 quadruple murder case in Henry County

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - The second man accused in the shooting deaths of four people after a bonfire in Henry County in 2016 was found not guilty on Monday. 

Matthew Baker, now 26, was charged with malice murder and 29 other charges. He and Jacob Kosky were accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Matthew Hicks, 29-year-old Keith Gibson, 20-year-old Sophia Bullard and 20-year-old Destiny Olinger in October 2016. 

According to investigators, Kosky and Baker went to a house party where the victims were. Police say the defendants left but came back with guns. Then the police say Kosky and Baker opened fire. Hicks, Gibson and Bullard died inside the home. Olinger died later at the hospital. 

Someone who didn’t believe the charges against Baker from the start was his mother, Angie Lanier.  

"They’ve been rough, they’ve been really rough," said Lanier. "He’s just been keeping his faith." 

Matthew Baker appears in a Henry County courtroom on Jan. 24, 2017.  (FOX 5)

"He said, ‘I didn’t do anything. I didn’t kill anybody. I’m innocent,’" she added. 

Laneir said prosecutors offered him a plea deal that would have kept him behind bars for decades. "He said they’re trying to take my whole entire life away from me where I’ll never have kids or anything," Lanier said. 

Kosky eventually confessed and said Baker was innocent. But Baker remained behind bars. "He was on 23-hour lockdown. He only got to come out for an hour," Lanier said. 

"When you hold your newborn baby for the first time. That joy you feel in your heart when you see your baby," Lanier said. 

Her son now wants to restart the life he left behind. "Right now, he just wants to spend time with family." 

Jacob Kosky appears in a Henry County courtroom on April 11, 2017.  (FOX 5)

Kosky pleaded guilty but mentally ill in February 2019. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.