Chapple convicted in slaying

Apr. 7—Johnny Lee Chapple will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him on murder charges related to the 2022 death of his longtime girlfriend.

The fatal shooting of 30-year-old Latoria "Nanny" Waller happened about 2:30 on the morning after a Valentine's Day party was held at the couple's rented residence on Towns Street in Milledgeville.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for a little more than four hours before they informed a court bailiff they had reached a verdict in the case.

Earlier, that same group of jurors had indicated they were having difficulty reaching a unanimous decision. That was at 5 p.m. and they had been deliberating for only three hours. After conferring with Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III and Assistant District Attorney Tammy Coffey, along with defense attorney Brian Cathey, of Athens, and Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Public Defender John Bradley, Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Bradley instructed jurors to go back into the jury room and continue deliberations.

Jurors earlier requested to view three videos shown during trial testimony by the prosecution. They paused their deliberations and were brought back into the courtroom and shown all three videos again.

At 5:40 p.m. Thursday, jurors requested the judge to bring them back into the courtroom so they could hear Judge Bradley provide them the charge as to the charges of malice murder and felony murder. Again, the judge allowed such without objection from attorneys on either side.

About 30 minutes later, jurors indicated they had reached a verdict in the four-day murder trial.

Baldwin County Superior Court Deputy Clerk Cinda Bright read the verdict aloud to a hushed courtroom shortly after 6 p.m.

Jurors found Chapple guilty on two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Chapple was found not guilty on the charge of malice murder.

Chapple, clad in a long-sleeve greenish shirt with a necktie and wearing beige slacks, was emotionally shaken by the unanimous verdict. He was consoled on several occasions by his lead defense attorney Brian Cathey, of Athens. Cathey assisted Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Public Defender John Bradley as a member of Chapple's defense team.

After Bright read the verdict, Cathey requested each member of the jury be independently polled. Each juror indicated the verdict they rendered was their verdict in the jury room as well as their verdict in the courtroom.

Jurors were then dismissed but were allowed to stay in the courtroom to listen to the sentencing phase if they wished to do so. They all left.

A pre-sentence hearing was then conducted, where Judge Bradley was informed by Barksdale of previous criminal convictions against Chapple.

Before imposing the sentence against Chapple in the murder case, two of Waller's relatives, her aunt, Sonja Simmons, and her father, Carl Waller, provided the court victim impact statements.

"She was my sister's only daughter," Simmons said. "She was more than a niece. She was more like my sister's backbone, actually."

Waller did a lot of things to help her mama.

"The loss of Nanny, I cannot tell you in words — I don't know the words to explain how we feel," Simmons said.

Shortly after Latoria's death, her mother died "from the loss of her daughter," Simmons said, choking with emotion as she spoke.

"Like I told you, words can't explain what me and my family have gone through," Simmons said. "But I do, honest to God, from the top of my heart to the bottom of my soul, I thank you for what you have done."

Carl Waller said Latoria was his only daughter.

"This has affected our whole lifestyle — all of our family gatherings," Waller said. "I miss her smile and her hugs that she gave me. It's just hard, hard, hard."

Waller said his daughter didn't deserve to die.

"Mr. Chapple knew that she was my rock, my soul," Waller said.

Judge Bradley later asked Chapple to stand in the courtroom while he imposed the sentence.

"This is not just a case concerning a death; it is also a case that you must note that the jury has rejected your defense and your claim that Ms. Waller killed herself beyond a reasonable doubt," Bradley told Chapple. "According to this court's notes and finds that to be a profound disrespect that you would, in fact, take another life, and then attempt to blame her for its departure."

The judge then sentenced Chapple to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 10 years consecutively to the felony murder conviction.