ATLANTA — A man convicted of shooting his wife eight times outside their Sandy Springs apartment was sentenced Friday to serve 35 years in prison.
Michael Parson, 43, did not speak before being sentenced, but his mother, Margaret Parson, said he's not the monster he's been painted to be.
Parson was found guilty Thursday of aggravated assault, attempted murder and other charges in the April 2012 shooting of his now ex-wife Adina, a former attorney for the state department of public health. She survived the attack and now uses a wheelchair. She suffered injuries to her head, arms, torso and legs.
The man was having an affair with a co-worker, was engaged to the woman and told her that Adina was his aunt. He was arrested in El Paso, Texas, in May 2012 and was extradited.
After the shooting, Parson fabricated a story about being at a veterans' hospital in Decatur at the time of the shooting. One of Parson's friends posed as him at the hospital and waited in the emergency room in hopes of surveillance footage providing a solid alibi. Investigators used cellphone tower records to prove he was at the scene.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kelly A. Lee gave Parson the maximum possible sentence. She said this was a rare case where she found the sentencing range too low.
