Butler Sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole

After two days of mitigation and victim impact statements, Alcovy Circuit Superior Court Judge Eugene Benton sentenced Corey Butler, 31, of Monroe, to life without the possibility of parole on Tuesday.

"I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders," said Faye Evans, one of Epsie Ewing's sisters. "Just to know that he will never be out to do this again to anyone else - it is such a relief."

In sentencing, Butler was given extra years for each of the counts on top of life without parole on the counts of malice and felony murder.

"He was sentenced to life without parole for the murder charges, life on the armed robbery and an additional 40 years on the other charges, but they will run concurrently. So technically he has life without parole," said Alcovy Circuit Court District Attorney Layla Zon. "He is not eligible for parole and won't ever be."

Zon said Butler has 30 days to appeal the sentence and she expects that will likely happen, which is usual. Right now, however, she said she will be focusing on bringing the other two accused to trial.

"We don't yet have a date on those, but I will be getting with the defence attorneys and seeing what we can do about getting those trials on our calendar," she said.

For the family of the Loganville woman, Tuesday brought the first light at the end of the tunnel.

"I know we still have the other two trials to go, but this one is over," Evans said. "In all that's bad, something good happened today."

Butler was found guilty on March 18 of all 14 counts in the indictment for the 2009 murder of Ewing, 65, of Loganville. He was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, armed robbery, burglary, possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table. 

In mitigation, some of Butler's family testified, including his father, who is white, and his sister and nephew. Expert witnesses included clinical psychologist Dr. Victoria Reynolds, who was brought in by Butler's team to show that he experienced trauma as a child. Reynold's said that at the age of 6, Butler's father had left him. At that age, he also had witnessed a murder by his uncle. She also said in her expert analysis he had been sexually abused by older woman from an early age and had been regularly bullied because he was bi-racial.

Zon, however, disputed the testimony saying it was based largely on Butler's own testimony, which by his own admission had not always been honest.

When Butler was found guilty last week, Evans, said she felt then as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders- that there was finally justice for her sister.

"This has been four years in the making and it has been a journey," she said. "It went from have a sister who was loved by everyone to one who was taken from us so long ago now. It has taken so long to get justice, but now I feel that we finally have gotten justice for Epsie. I was just so overwhelmed with joy when the Judge said he was guilty."

Evans said she does know, however, that the journey is not over and won't be until the other two Monroe men stand trail. According to the indictment, Butler was accused of going to the home of Epsie and CF Ewing with Barry Marquez Partee and John Jody Blackwell on or about 1 p.m. on May 21, 2009 to commit armed robbery. During the attack, CF and Epsie Ewing were both beaten. Epsie Ewing died a month later of the injuries she received.

Evans said although she knows the journey is not over, she felt like a prayer was answered with the first guilty verdict. She said she was very happy with the way the district attorney and the prosecution handled the case.

"They did a great job. I was so impressed with (District Attorney) Layla Zon and the whole team," Evans said. "Now I hope we have the same outcome for the other two."

See also:

• Closing arguments begin Monday in the Ewing Murder Trial
• Trial of First of the 3 Men Accused in the 2009 Murder of Epsie Ewing To Begin Next Week
• Butler Waives Right to Jury Trial in Ewing Case - DA Takes Death Penalty Off the Table
• UPDATE: Pretrial Motions in Ewing Trial Cancelled

• Accused Murderers of Loganville Woman Back in Court
• Date Set for the First of the Ewing Murder Trials
• Two Defendants in Ewing Trial Expected in Court Thursday