Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Mom, Niece By Stabbing, Car Fire

Douglasville GA

23 November, 2021

2:34 PM

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DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Douglasville man pleaded guilty to murdering his mother and 4-year-old niece, the Douglas County District Attorney's Office announced. Derrick Hobbs, 38, entered a guilty plea earlier this month. He was charged with killing his mom, Lawanda Barrows, 59, and his niece Layla Hobbs, 4. Prosecutors said Hobbs stabbed his mom to death with a pair of scissors as she was dropping him off at his house on Colquitt Street in June 2020, and he then set fire to her car while Layla was still in her car seat. She died from smoke inhalation. Hobbs' 6-year-old nephew, Darryl "DJ" Hobbs, was also in the back seat of the car, but he escaped. Hobbs faces two life sentences for the murders, the DA's office said. "The facts of this case are horrific and the trauma the family had to endure is unimaginable," Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said. "We can only hope that this resolution can bring even the slightest sense of hope at the notion that justice has been served." Related: Douglasville Man Murdered Mother, Niece, Set Car On Fire: Police