A 43-year-old man from North Carolina has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the 2017 murder of his parents.
His girlfriend, Nikkia Cooper, was previously sentenced to 45-56 years for her involvement in the crime.
On March 30, 2017, after being evicted from their home, Curtis Atkinson Jr., 43, and his girlfriend went to his parents’ home.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that Atkinson stabbed his father up to 69 times. It was also reported that Atkinson’s 11-year-old niece was in the house and was allegedly forced to witness the event.
Rather than leaving the house immediately, Atkinson and Cooper remained in the house for days with the deceased and the child.
On April 2, they took the young girl and fled to Washington, D.C., where they were apprehended by the Metropolitan Police Department. Atkinson reportedly tried to offer his niece in exchange for ransom.
The situation at the Atkinson home was discovered when firefighters responded to a fire alarm. Both victims were seriously injured: Ruby Atkinson had both gunshot and 17 stab wounds, and Curtis Atkinson Sr.’s body was found in a state of decomposition with broken teeth.
The court found Atkinson guilty on multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. Superior Court Judge Karen Eady-Williams delivered two consecutive life sentences for the murders and added additional time for other charges, amounting to 404 to 532 months.
Nikkia Cooper, for her involvement, had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in 2019. Along with her sentence for the murders, she received a concurrent sentence for robbery.
