District Attorney pleased with plea agreement

GAINESVILLE - Hall County District Attorney, Lydia Sartain, says she is pleased with the plea agreement in the case of a shooting over a Rolex watch.

Harry Allen Burkett was sentenced to 25-years in prison after pleading guilty for shooting into a crowded apartment that killed 16-year-old Michael Watt.

Sartain said the agreement is a harsher sentence than Burkett might have gotten if the case had gone to trial.

"Under this scenerio he's not eligible for parole for 18 years, so in fact he's getting a harsher sentence as a practical matter than he might have gotten with a life sentence."

Sartain says because of the nature of the case a trial was not the best option.

"You're not assured of a guilty verdict and this was a lot of wrong doing by a lot of people. We could not ignore the facts we would face in front of a jury."


Another man involved in the shooting, 18-year-old, Austin Jai Peal, was sentenced to 10-years of probation and boot camp after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Peal drove Burkett around looking for Watt the night of the murder.