‘Innocent and sweet’ 83-year-old found shot to death. Now, Georgia man is prison-bound
An 83-year-old grandmother was preparing for Mother’s Day when a stranger came to her door and shot her to death, Georgia officials said.
Barbara Gibson’s death rocked the Mt. Zion area of Carroll County, where she was described as a “pillar” of the community.
“The world became a whole lot dimmer and the fear of knowing someone was capable of murdering an innocent and sweet Godly woman was real,” the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post.
Now, almost three years after the woman was found dead in May 2020, a man has been convicted of malice murder. An attorney believed to be representing the man — Andrew Conard — didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment March 17.
The case dates to May 9, 2020, when officials said Gibson was getting ready to give out jelly for Mother’s Day. As she got ready to deliver the gifts to her friends and neighbors, “Conard and co-defendant Amanda Sperry arrived at Ms. Gibson’s home with the intention to rob her,” according to deputies and the Coweta Judicial Circuit.
Conard is accused of knocking on the 83-year-old’s door and shooting her just after she answered. He and Sperry later stole the woman’s sewing machine, jewelry and wallet, prosecutors wrote in a March 13 news release.
At the time of their arrests in August 2020, deputies said Conard and Sperry had staked out the woman’s house. The two lived in the same neighborhood as her, but officials don’t believe Conard and Sperry knew Gibson, Sheriff Terry Langley said in video from a news conference.
“For three days prior to the murder, the couple drove around the County targeting elderly persons in rural areas,” prosecutors wrote. “Their motive was robbery and they sought citizens that might be alone, isolated, and unable to fight back. The evidence at trial showed that they targeted Ms. Gibson for exactly this reason.”
The Coweta Judicial District said the couple “spent much of their money on methamphetamine, scratch-off lottery tickets, and video poker.” The two are is accused of starting the robbery plot to get money after Sperry was tied to another stealing scheme.
Gibson is remembered in online posts as a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who was known for her peanut and pecan brittle. The Hightower Funeral Homes website said she lived in Mt. Zion, roughly 50 miles west of Atlanta.
“Thank you to all those who worked on and prepared this case, the community who prayed for Mrs. Gibson, her family, and our Sheriff’s Office, and for the jury for giving Mrs. Gibson the final justice she so deserved,” Carroll County deputies posted after the recent conviction. “We pray this will help bring some closure and healing to her family and her community.”
Officials said Conard was “found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, home invasion, armed robbery, and aggravated battery.” He was sentenced to “life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, followed by 2 additional life sentences, and 20 additional years,” according to prosecutors.
Sperry reportedly “agreed to testify in the trial of Conard in exchange for a 60 year sentence, with the first 40 years to serve in prison.”
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