First hearing set in murder-arson case
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The first proceeding in the death penalty case against Henry Lee Stringer — the man accused of killing four people in Hoschton in 2006 — will be held on Tuesday, March 25, at 9 a.m.
The first proceeding is held in accordance with the unified appeal procedures that governs pretrial and trial proceedings for death penalty cases in Georgia, according to district attorney Rick Bridgeman.
The case has been assigned to superior court judge Joe Booth. Stringer is represented by Joseph W. Vigneri and Christian G. Larmar.
The bodies of Stringer’s girlfriend Marvelette Strickland, their children J’Majuan Stringer and J’Lasia Stringer, and Marvelette’s mother, Evelyn Strickland, were discovered on May 30, 2006, inside their burning home on Pendergrass Road in Hoschton. Stringer was arrested on June 1, 2007, after a year-long investigation by authorities.
Stringer was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury on Dec. 3, 2007, with 16 counts related to the deaths of Evelyn Strickland, 68; Marvelette Strickland, 29; J’Majuan Stringer, 4; and J’Lasia Stringer, 2.
The indictment charged Stringer with four counts of malice murder, six counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault; one count of aggravated battery; two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree; and one count of arson in the first degree.
Earlier, authorities claimed Stringer stabbed the two adults to death before setting fire to their Pendergrass Road (Ga. Hwy. 332) house, leaving the two children to die. Stringer, 34, later pled not guilty to the charges.
Bridgeman announced in December that he would seek the death penalty against Stringer in the case.
