Man pleads guilty to lesser charge in 2023 death of Clark Atlanta student

A suspect involved in the March 2023 fatal shooting of a Clark Atlanta University student pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge.

Keontay Holliman-Peoples, 26, was sentenced to 20 years, with 13 of those to serve in prison, followed by two years on probation. The remaining five years will be suspended if he doesn’t violate the law again.

Holliman-Peoples was originally charged with felony murder in the death of Jatonne Sterling.

As part of his plea deal, he was sentenced as a first offender on a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter, criminal attempt to purchase marijuana and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Holliman-Peoples is not allowed to have contact with Sterling’s family, can’t possess any weapons and is subject to random alcohol and drug screenings. He is also required, as part of his plea agreement, to complete a victim impact course and moral therapy.

Credit: Vanessa McCray

According to the indictment, Holliman-Peoples shot and killed Sterling while attempting to purchase marijuana from him at a building on Beckwith Street on the Clark Atlanta campus. Officials said the two knew each other prior to the shooting, but Holliman-Peoples was not a student.

Sterling got inside a vehicle parked behind a Catholic campus ministry, which was near a residence hall in the heart of the Atlanta University Center, police said. Some type of dispute occurred, and the argument escalated into gunfire.

Police said Holliman-Peoples was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital to recover from injuries he sustained during the gunfire.

In response to the shooting, Clark Atlanta canceled classes for a week and postponed mid-semester exams. In a message to students, university president George T. French Jr. described Sterling’s death as a “tragic loss.”

The 20-year-old sophomore from Chicago was part of the university’s baseball team.

“He was excellent. Everybody loved him. He was a coach’s dream, a coach would want to have 25 Jatonne Sterlings,” said Ernest Radcliffe, Sterling’s former coach.

Sterling was a good student and a “sensational young man” who’d always respond with a “Yes, sir” or “No, sir,” Radcliffe said. He also stepped up to help his family after his father died unexpectedly a few years ago.

“He was everything to his mom,” Radcliffe said. “He became the man of the house.”

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