DOUGLAS, Ga. (AP) -- A south Georgia man has been convicted of killing two roommates in 2019 and then burying them.
Christopher Lane Jones was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of malice murder and two counts of concealing a death by a Coffee County jury after 35 minutes of deliberation, Assistant District Attorney Ian Sansot said.
Coffee County Superior Court Judge J. Kelly Brooks sentenced Jones to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole for the murders, plus another 20 years in prison for concealment, Sansot told local news outlets.
Prosecutors say Jones killed Kristian Bell, 25, and Steven James Ward, 35, as they and others were being evicted from a house in Nicholls in late January 2019. Evidence presented at trial showed Jones was high on methamphetamines when he became angry with Jones and shot Ward. Bell came out of the house and Jones then shot Bell six times.
When two other people came to the house to move furniture, testimony showed Jones confessed to the killings and directed the others to dig a grave for the bodies, which Jones had hidden under the house. Jones then built a fire pit over the grave to hide it.
Bell's family later reported her missing, prompting a search. Her family was directed to the house, where they found Bell's belongings. Days later, on Feb. 9, the bodies were found in the makeshift grave.
Prosecutors said Jones later told three other people about the killings. He was arrested in California and did not deny his actions when questioned, authorities said.
Dedrick Johnson, one of the two men who helped bury the bodies, was convicted in December 2019 on two counts of concealing the death of another. Joseph Burch remains jailed on the same charges while awaiting trial.