Emanuel Boykins gets life in prison for Bobby Tillman beating death

GlobalPost

One of four Georgia teens charged with beating and stomping another teenager to death at a party in 2010 has been sentenced to life in prison.

Emanuel Boykins pleaded guilty to murder in the death of 18-year-old Bobby Tillman, who was killed when a fight at a suburban Atlanta party spilled out into the street, CNN reported.

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Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Boykins will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years, The Associated Press reported.

Medical examiners said the 5-foot-6-inch, 125-pound Tillman likely died when a broken rib bone pierced his heart and that he would have survived the beating had he not been stomped in the chest, according to CNN.

Monique Rivarde, Tillman's mother, struggled to speak through her tears as she spoke about her son's death.

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"I lost my son, my whole world came to an end," she said, according to Atlanta TV station WGCL. "Bobby was a good, innocent 18-year-old boy, full of fun and love. It was stolen from him by cowards."

Investigators said Tillman was attacked after some girls got into a fight at the party and hit a boy, who vowed that the next boy who came by would get "beat down," CNN reported.

Tracen Franklin, the second of the four teens charged with killing Tillman, is scheduled for trial June 11, and prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty. No trial date has been set for Quantez Mallory and Horace Coleman, the two other teens charged in the case, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

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