Overview
- Prosecutors said video shows Matthew Scott Lanz leaving the Hickses’ home and driving to his Athens apartment on the night of the 2021 shootings.
- Officers found Justin and Amber Hicks more than 12 hours later and discovered their 2-year-old hiding and covered in blood, according to prosecutors.
- Lanz faces malice murder and 12 additional counts, including cruelty to a child for leaving the toddler alone.
- He was arrested the next day after allegedly stabbing a Sandy Springs officer during a burglary call, and police shot and wounded him during the encounter.
- Defense attorneys told the court Lanz believes he was set up by a government agency, a claim raised as the trial proceeds after years of competency litigation.