Dontavius Mintz nets two life sentences in 2013 killing of Alyssa Jackson, north Macon robbery
Dontavius Mintz was 16 years old when he was charged with killing a teenage girl as well as a home invasion robbery.
Thursday, he pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery.
Mintz, now 18, was sentenced to two life sentences that he will serve simultaneously. He'll have the possibility of parole after serving 30 years.
In sentencing Mintz, Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Simms told Mintz that he'd lived a "very short, very violent life" so far.
He asked the teenager if he'd ever read the Charles Dickens novel "A Tale of Two Cities."
Mintz replied that he hadn't.
Simms paraphrased the last line, telling him, "It is a far, far better thing that you do now than you have ever done."
Mintz entered his plea after his trial in the home invasion robbery had begun. The trial ended just as Dr. Samer Othman was about to testify how Mintz and 20-year-old Brandon Howard forced their way into his parents' Howard Oaks Drive home on Nov. 18, 2013.
If he hadn't pleaded guilty, Mintz could have faced more prison time, if convicted. His age at the time of the crimes prevented him from receiving a life-without-parole sentence.
In his opening statement to the jury Thursday morning, Mintz's lawyer argued that his client never entered Othman's parents' home, but instead was named a suspect by Howard, who was "saving his own skin."
Howard pleaded guilty to armed robbery last year and was sentenced to 20 years, 12 of them in prison. He was set to testify during Mintz's trial.
Prosecutor John Regan said Mintz's fingerprint was found in the house.
'SAFER PLACE WITHOUT HIM'
A Monday night football game was ending on TV.
Othman, a dentist, was on the phone. His parents were asleep.
He heard a noise that at first he thought was a cat.
Instead, it was two gunmen outside, Regan told jurors.
After a brief attempt to hide, Othman let the men inside. Mintz wasn't wearing a mask, he said.
Telling Othman they'd kill everyone in the house if he yelled for help, the men led him from room to room, looting the house.
They forced him to carry a TV from his bedroom to a car parked outside, then ordered him to get into the back for a ride to a Zebulon Road ATM, where they stole money.
Mintz talked about killing Othman, their hostage, as they drove across town, Regan said.
The men forced him out of the car somewhere off Pio Nono Avenue and told him to walk into a wooded area. They told him to get on the ground, with his face down and his hands behind his back.
Othman thought he was going to die, Regan said.
But the men left and Othman was able to walk to nearby Spencer Circle to get help.
Three days later, on Nov. 21, 2013, Mintz fatally shot 16-year-old Alyssa Jackson as she talked to Damion Bernard "Little Petey" Clayton on Cedar Avenue.
Clayton was killed the following February at the Macon Little League ballpark on Anthony Road about a month after Mintz's arrest. Charges against the teenagers charged in Clayton's killing still are pending.
During his Thursday sentencing, Mintz spoke softly, answering the judge's questions and entering his guilty plea. He didn't speak on his own behalf before his sentence was announced.
Speaking after the sentencing, District Attorney David Cooke said Mintz "fancies himself a tough guy when he's gunning down an innocent girl or holding people hostage in their own homes."
He added, "But when a victim had the courage to face him in court, Mintz folded like the coward that he is. Macon is a safer place without him."
To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.
This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Dontavius Mintz nets two life sentences in 2013 killing of Alyssa Jackson, north Macon robbery ."