Dacula Woman Sentenced to Life Without Parole for 2019 Cold Case Stabbing Murder

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A Dacula woman already incarcerated for a separate knife attack has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after a Gwinnett County jury convicted her of murdering a 61-year-old man in a 2019 cold case.

Carmen Marie Hunt, 52, was found guilty of malice murder and two counts of felony murder in the stabbing death of Ray Anthony Neal, 61.

Prosecutors said Hunt was attempting to buy drugs from Neal when she fatally stabbed him at his Lawrenceville home in July 2019.

“I am thankful that our cold case team consistently worked this case to a successful conclusion,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said.

Victim Found Dead Inside Lawrenceville Home

Neal’s sister dropped him off at his home on the night of July 19, 2019. When she did not hear from him the following day, she returned to the residence and discovered him dead.

Investigators subsequently determined Neal had been stabbed to death.

Police spent several years investigating the killing, interviewing witnesses and examining evidence recovered from the crime scene. Hunt acknowledged during the original investigation that she had seen Neal the night before his body was discovered but denied attacking him.

The case remained unsolved until investigators were able to connect evidence from Neal’s home to Hunt.

Authorities matched Hunt’s fingerprints to a fingerprint recovered from the 2019 murder scene, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.

Separate 2022 Knife Attack Became Part of Murder Case

Hunt’s involvement in another stabbing three years later also became significant to the cold case investigation.

In 2022, Hunt attacked then-58-year-old Derrick Gray Young with a knife in Lawrenceville in front of a witness, prosecutors said. Young survived the attack.

Police recovered the knives used in that incident and connected them to Hunt. She initially claimed she acted in self-defense after Young attempted to sexually assault her, but she eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Young testified during Hunt’s murder trial about the 2022 attack.

Jurors were also shown video of investigators interviewing Hunt about Neal’s death. According to prosecutors, after investigators left the interview room, Hunt was recorded muttering to herself, “you didn’t get away with this murder.”

After approximately three and a half hours of deliberations, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

Hunt was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Managing Assistant District Attorney Angela Mattozzi and Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Joseph prosecuted the case. Numerous investigators and members of the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s cold case and complex case teams assisted.

The District Attorney’s Office also credited the Gwinnett County Police Department, Lawrenceville Police Department and Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office with helping bring the six-year-old murder case to a conclusion.