MARIETTA, Ga. — Editor's note: The video in this story is from a previous 2020 report.
A man who pulled out a gun and shot his girlfriend in the neck, killing her, in the middle of a Marietta restaurant in 2020 will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cobb County DA Flynn D. Broady, Jr. announced the sentence on Tuesday for 53-year-old Jose Lemus-Maldonado.
According to the DA's Office, Lemus-Maldonado shot his girlfriend, 43-year-old Janice Ross, after she "asked him about a woman he had been communicating with" while they were eating at El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant on Cobb Parkway.
911 calls from others at the restaurant said "they were arguing" in the leadup to Lemus-Maldonado shooting Ross.
"He then fled into the woods toward the Marietta Campus of Kennesaw State University and Life University. He was apprehended by Marietta PD officers within an hour of the incident with the assistance of a police K9," a release by the DA's Office said.
The incident closed down the campuses of Kennesaw State and Life University at the time.
During sentencing, according to the DA's release, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann B. Harris admonished Lemus-Maldonado, telling him the killing was "senseless and it was tragic."
"You have not just destroyed one life. You have brought destruction on an entire family. I hope that weighs on you for the rest of your natural life," Judge Harris said.
According to the DA, Ross' 14-year-old daughter spoke during the sentencing about the impact of losing her.
“I need my mom here and she won’t be there. She won’t be at prom or my high school graduation. I won’t ever get my mom back and it hurts. I hope he knows how badly he has affected me," the daughter said.