Slain Parents Found With Toddler Cuddling and Trying to Play With Them As They Lay Dead — Neighbor Found Guilty

A Georgia man has been sentenced to multiple life terms for murdering a firefighter and his wife in their home while the couple’s 2-year-old child was asleep upstairs.

Justin and Amber Hicks were found dead in their Acworth, Ga., residence in November 2021, according to a criminal warrant filed in the case.

Their neighbor, Matthew Scott Lanz, was later arrested on numerous charges, including murder, per the warrant. In a recent bench trial, he was convicted on all counts, according to online court records.

Investigators alleged that on Nov. 17, 2021, Lanz entered the Hicks’ home through a back door and fatally shot the couple. Authorities said he did not realize their toddler was asleep upstairs, Atlanta News First reported. The child was not physically harmed.

During the trial, Justin’s father testified that he went to check on the couple after Amber failed to show up for work and neither she nor Justin responded to messages, according to 11 Alive.

When officers arrived, they discovered the Hicks’ toddler on the bed with his parents, cuddling and attempting to rouse them, police bodycam footage cited by 11 Alive showed. The child was covered in blood and still wearing unchanged diapers.

Although prosecutors did not establish a clear motive during the proceedings, they said Lanz previously told investigators he had seen “demonic lights” inside the Hicks’ home, Atlanta News First reported. He also claimed his brother Austin — who had died by then — had been troubled by the prior occupants of the same property.

According to the outlet, Austin had previously broken into the home when different residents lived there. Months before the Hicks were killed, Austin died by suicide after fatally stabbing a police officer in Washington, D.C.

At trial, Lanz’s defense attorney argued that he was not tied to any trace evidence recovered from the crime scene, Atlanta News First reported.

Lanz was ultimately found guilty of two counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of child cruelty and one count of tampering with evidence, among other charges.

He was sentenced to three life terms — two of them without the possibility of parole — plus an additional 32 years in prison, all to be served consecutively.