Gwinnett Brothers Who Attacked Parents Sentenced To 20 Years

SNELLVILLE, GA — Two Gwinnett County brothers who pleaded guilty to drugging, then brutally beating and stabbing their parents, have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On the day their trial was set to begin, a remorseful Christopher and Cameron Ervin apologized in Superior Court, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The pair had faced up to 30 years of prison time for the September 5, 2015 attack.

That day, police say Cameron, then 17, and Christopher, then 22, gave their parents cocktails spiked with Xanax at their home near Snellville.

They waited for them to fall asleep, cut a gas line to the home and tried to blow up the house, before going back in to beat their mother, Yvonne, with a rifle and stab their father, Zachary, more than 10 times.

Yvonne Ervin eventually was able to call 911 and Gwinnett County Police arrested the sons.

Soon afterward, both parents began lobbying for freedom for their sons, calling the attack "one bad moment."

Together, the family started a nonprofit organization called "Fighting For Forgiveness," devoted to helping people with depression or dealing with other trauma and getting them professional help.

On Monday, the parents were among a dozen people who testified for leniency on behalf of Cameron and Christopher, the AJC reported.

They said the two had battled with drug abuse and depression but are better now.

"That night, being in that room, being in that house that night, I saw Satan," Zachary Ervin said, according to the paper. "And I knew shortly after that that what had happened to us wasn't my sons. And that's why I've been able to stand with them to be advocates for them."

Prosecutors had asked the two be sentenced to 30 years in prison. The minimum sentence they faced was 10 years.

Superior Court Judge Ronnie Batchelor sentenced the two to 20 years in prison, with 30 years probation.

To read the AJC report, click here.