A chilling tale of murder ended in a DeKalb County court when a man was sentenced to life plus an extra quarter-century behind bars, the local DA's office reported. Gerald Jerome Clark, 44, from Stone Mountain, was found guilty of a slew of charges, including Malice and Felony Murder, after a jury trial.

Officials said Clark callously stuffed a woman into the trunk of her own car, shot her, and then decided to quickly set the vehicle ablaze. Surveillance footage pegged Clark with the victim, Mary Kilpatrick, a mere hour before the devastating fire. The DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department discovered Kilpatrick’s charred remains in the car’s trunk after dousing the fire on Fieldgreen Circle in September 2020. DNA had to be used to identify the 27-year-old due to the severity of the burns sustained, as per a statement from the DeKalb County District Attorney's office.

Witness accounts further tightened the noose around Clark. He was confronted at a friend's house after banging was heard from the trunk, prompting him to brandish a gun. Managing to escape, Clark then enlisted his cousin innocently to procure gasoline, before he shot into the trunk, torched the vehicle, and fled, according to trial testimonies.

The gruesome details of the case came to light following an extensive investigation, with DeKalb County Police Department Det. Collins spearheading the efforts. Ultimately, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Asha F. Jackson handed down the sentence immediately after the guilty verdict, awarding no chance for parole alongside the additional years confinement. The DA's office praised the work of the prosecution team, comprising Senior Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Scacco and Reid White, DA Investigator Antoine Winston, and Victim Advocate Christy Palmer, for bringing Clark to justice.