GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — UPDATE: The jury has been sent home for the day to resume deliberations on Monday.
A jury has now begun deliberating the fate of the man accused in connection to the murder of 18-year-old Tori Lang. Austin Ford is accused of killing Lang and leaving her body in a Gwinnett County Park nearly two years ago.
Opening statements began Monday followed by witness testimonies Tuesday afternoon, first with the man who discovered Lang's remains in Yellow River Park in July 2021 and then Lang's mother, Teresa.
During court, Lang's mother recounted the worst day of her life: from the moment she knew something was wrong when her daughter did not come home for curfew until they found her daughter Tori's body.
Now, after three short days of testimony, Ford's fate rests in the hands of the jury.
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Ford faces the following charges: felony murder, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and two counts of theft by taking and tampering with evidence relating to Lang's death.
Police believed that he was Lang's friend at one point and said the two knew each other. At the time, the 20-year-old was being held in Clayton County for an unrelated theft charge. Records show that he was booked into the Gwinnett County jail on June 9, 2022.
Authorities have not said how they linked Ford to Lang's murder or how they are friends. Police have not said if there could be any other suspects in the case.
How did Tori Lang die?
On July 28, 2021, authorities found Lang shot and killed under a tree at Yellow River Park around 6:30 a.m.
Gwinnett County Police Department officers were originally investigating a call about a medical situation.
Her car was found a week later burned and hidden in a wooded area of Hidden Acres Nature Preserve in DeKalb County. The beat-up 2012 Nissan Versa was about five miles from where Lang's body was found. The area is closer to the family's home in Lithonia, not far from Stephenson Middle School.
Lang's friends did not know why she would be in the Gwinnett County park.
Honoring Tori's life
Her parents have wanted to keep Lang's vibrancy and hardworking legacy alive. They have started a foundation in her honor and are working to create scholarships at the schools she attended to ensure her memory lives on.
"[She was like] a kiwi: something sweet. Good for the soul. Joyful all the time," her father Torrey said. "Openhearted, we just want her to be remembered as a great person."
The Kiwi Foundation aims to decrease teenage violence by increasing communication between parents and their children.
Lang's parents have also become involved with TRC, or Truth and Reconciliation Conversations, which works to bring awareness to gender-based violence.