Man gets life, though inmates say another man confessed

<p>A judge sentenced a 21-year-old man to life in prison for murder during a robbery, though two jail inmates say a different man told them he committed the crime.</p><p>A DeKalb County Superior Court jury on Tuesday found Theron Lockheart guilty in the March, 2001 shooting death of 53-year-old Lucius Adkison, even though two men said Andrew Fleming committed the murder.</p><p>The finding, based in part on testimony from two women who said Lockheart admitted to them he killed Adkison, prompted Lockheart, who is black, to accuse police and prosecutors of racism.</p><p>Its a racial matter to get the white boy out of trouble, he said, referring to Fleming.</p><p>Judge Michael Hancock reminded Lockheart that his former girlfriend, Michelle Gibson, and another friend, Mariama Deramus, testified that Lockheart admitted killing Adkison and dumping his body in the parking lot of the tennis court in the Mainstreet subdivision in DeKalb County.</p><p>The judge also noted letters Lockheart wrote to Gibson from jail in which he criticized her for failing to keep your mouth shut. He also said in a letter he would be freed because even if he did shoot him, they dont have a gun to prove it.</p><p>Lockheart was sentenced to life in prison for murder plus 10 years for armed robbery.</p><p>Fleming has pleaded guilty to concealing Adkisons death, but he has not yet been sentenced.</p>