Alicia Alston was 45 and a mother of twelve. Family remembered her as loved by everybody; a daughter said Alicia had been tired of her marriage and was considering a divorce in the days before her death.

On the morning of December 30, 2022, a domestic dispute inside the Ellenwood, Georgia, home she shared with her husband, Johnnie Alston, turned violent. Two children heard gunshots and their mother calling for help, then found their father standing over Alicia with a handgun. She was found outside the residence with multiple gunshot wounds and heavy bleeding from her legs, taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

Johnnie Alston fled the scene, checked into a motel after stopping at a gas station, and was arrested on January 3, 2023 after investigators obtained warrants. He admitted to shooting his wife and wrote an apology letter to the children and family. He was tried in Clayton County; jurors cited his testimony as influential. In June 2026 a jury convicted him of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, firearm possession during a felony and two counts of third-degree cruelty to children. A judge sentenced him to life without parole plus five consecutive years and the case is closed.