A Georgia judge has sentenced a 37-year-old woman to life behind bars after she murdered the man who hired her to care for him after he suffered a stroke.

Danetta Knoblauch was convicted in November of felony murder in the 2023 beating death of 57-year-old Melvin Cooksey, the Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office said . On Wednesday, Knoblauch was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 30 years.

On Feb. 23, 2023, deputies in Newton County responded to a fire at a home on Mote Road. Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set with propane tanks spread throughout the house. But authorities did not find Cooksey and he was reported missing. A highly-publicized search took place but there was no sign of Cooksey.

In May 2023, hikers in the

See Full Page