12.16.2005

justice for miss janet...

Killer gets life term

A homeless man was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the rape and murder of a homeless Riverdale woman in January.

Janice Cunningham, 50, was found sexually assaulted and strangled behind a boarded-up convenience store along busy Ga. 85. Henry Sheffield was arrested for murder at a candlelight vigil for Cunningham days after her death.

Sheffield, 35, was convicted Wednesday in Clayton County Superior Court and sentenced to life in prison.

Denise Leary of Dallas, Texas, one of Cunningham's siblings, called the crime a "senseless tragedy." "We lost a sister, her children lost a mother; we can't get her back," Leary said. "And here's a young person who will spend the rest of his life in prison, so if he has family, they've lost him too. The cycle continues."

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