Trial to begin for wife accused of murdering Atlanta police officer

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - The murder trial of a woman charged with murdering her Atlanta police officer husband is set to start in a Clayton County courtroom Monday morning.

Riverdale police say 49-year-old Tammare Lawrence shot and killed her husband, Atlanta Police Officer Stanley Lawrence as the 58-year-old sat on the living room couch on Feb. 19, 2020.

The fatal shooting happened in the couple's home on Oak Valley Drive.

In the 911 call, Tammare Lawrence sounded clearly distraught while she calls for an ambulance.

When officers arrived they say the wife and mother was on her knees and crying. When investigators asked her what happened she would not tell them.

"I can't say," a police report indicated her telling the officers.

Officer Lawrence Stanley (Atlanta Police Department / Supplied)

When authorities pressed the 49-year-old again, the wife and mother requested a lawyer before talking to the police. Officers did find a weapon on the living room table.

In court the day after her arrest, Magistrate Judge Salvia Smith told Tammare Lawrence more about the case against her.

"Evidence suggests that you returned and shot Mr. Lawrence in the right shoulder with no exit wound. Stanley Lawrence succumbed to his wound in the living room of his home," Smith said.

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Officials say the couple had only been married about a year. 

The veteran officer's slaying has left his law enforcement colleagues and friends stunned.

"He was a giant of a man, 6-feet-8-inches, just so gentle, so heartwarming, everybody that I knew loved him, especially the kids," Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Terrell Griffin commented.

Officer Lawrence worked with children in the Police Athletic League where many say he had a huge impact.

"We go back, about 29 years. I remember Stanley when he was going through the academy. He had the type of personality that would light up a room," a former colleague and Chief of Spelman Security Moses Perdue recalled.

Tammare Lawrence has been held in custody without bond since her arrest on charges of murder and aggravated assault.