Crime & Safety
Man Charged with Murdering 4 Reverses Plea to Guilty
Richard Ringold was on trial for killing four people at a Lawrenceville, Ga. home in 2009.
Just before a 7 year old survivor was set to testify in a murder trial, the man accused of killing four people in a Lawrenceville home changed his plea to guilty.
According to CBS Atlanta, Richard Ringold reversed his plea mid-trial Tuesday. He is charged with the murders of Atania Butler, her 11 year old daughter and two of Butler's friends at Butler's home in August 2009.
Ringold will avoid the death penalty, and Butler's 7 now year old daughter, who witnessed the entire tragedy, will not have to take the stand. The little girl was just 4 when her mother, sister and two others were killed.
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"I felt relieved. I was relieved my saying that he did it and I made me feel like why did he put us through this. All I can say is he got punked by a baby girl," said grandmother Nancy Butler to CBS Atlanta.
The family accepted a plea deal where the district attorney recommended life without the possibility of parole. The judge approved to deal.
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