DA: Man convicted of killing child’s mother

MARIETTA — A Powder Springs man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was convicted of murdering the mother of his child, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office.

Maurice Gibson, 29, was charged in the shooting death of 23-year-old Danielle Marshall, who was found Jan. 13, 2013, in a pool of her own blood. After a two week trial during which Gibson slapped one of his defense attorneys in court, it took a Cobb jury all of 45 minutes to reach a verdict in the case, the district attorney’s office said.

According to investigators, Gibson called police the night Marshall was killed her Powder Springs home, telling them the woman was not answering the door but he could hear their 9-month-old daughter crying inside.

When police arrived, the young mother was discovered shot to death on the kitchen floor, according to Kim Isaza, spokeswoman for the Cobb DA.

While Powder Springs investigators named Gibson the primary suspect in Marshall’s murder, their case eventually went cold, Isaza said.

A few breaks in the case allowed police to solve the crime.

Gibson was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false report of a crime and making false statements, cruelty to children, perjury and solicitation to have a key witness murdered, according to Isaza.

He was sentenced Friday afternoon to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional five years.