Cutting Woman's Throat While Sleeping Earns Man 30 Year Sentence

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A man was convicted Monday for a brutal assault, cutting a woman's throat as she slept and stabbing her multiple times, in August 2016. The Defendant pled for leniency but Chief Judge David Emerson focused on the brutal and intrusive assault and agreed with the state’s recommendation, and imposed a sentence for defendant to spend the next 30 years in prison followed by 25 years on probation and banning the defendant from every having contact with the victim or her family.

Kenny Oliver was convicted and sentenced on three counts of aggravated assault, one count aggravated battery, four counts invasion of privacy and one count of possession of a knife during commission of a crime. During argument at sentencing Assistant District Attorney Lara Myers highlighted the lasting effect this violent assault had on the victim, noting the more than 30 internal and external stitches on her throat and right index finger and the fact that the cut on her finger has caused a loss of feeling, as well as the emotional and psychological effect such an intrusion and assault in her own bed while she slept would have on her forever.

On Aug. 5, 2016 a neighbor was awakened by Connor Archery ringing the doorbell, and upon opening the door saw the victim, Sandy Archery, lying on the ground near the street. Connor stated he was awakened by the victim screaming that she’d been stabbed and yelling for him and his cousins who were spending the night there to get out of the house. The victim had awoken to pain and realized her neck was bleeding. She covered her neck wounds with a comforter and ran to the yard of a neighbor for help. There was a trail of blood from the bedroom. When law enforcement arrived on scene there did not appear to be any forced entry into the home.

The victim stated the assailant looked like the individual whom she’d taken in and allowed to stay at her house because he had nowhere to go and had been homeless for a brief period of time. The defendant was a friend of her son, Jay. The victim ultimately indicated she could remember the defendant’s shirt color and it was the same color shirt her son saw the defendant wearing that morning, shortly before the assault. Further investigation revealed the same color shirt matching her description was found with blood and recovered in the woods nearby where the defendant often would camp. Investigators learned the defendant failed to show up for work that morning and the defendant’s cellphone was found in the victim’s room along with a serrated steak knife on the nightstand.

During the investigation, several witnesses stated the defendant was obsessed with the victim and was upset that she was seeing someone romantically, despite the fact they had never at any point in time been involved. Witnesses also indicated the defendant had recently threatened to burn down the house of the person the victim was seeing at the time. A subsequent search of the defendant’s phone yielded four surreptitious videos of the victim bathing. Each video was taken outside the master bath window and filmed through the slats on the blinds. It is clear that the victim did not appear to know she was being recorded. Additional evidence revealed the defendant had history of threatening violence towards females he was attracted to.

The DA’s Office requesting a sentence of 55 years with the first 30 years to be served in prison. The defendant requested a sentence of between 10 and 15 years with credit for the time he has already served since being arrested. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lara Myers and Anna Upshaw.

Photo courtesy Douglas County DA's Office