Killer of Cobb County deputies sentenced to life in prison

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The man who killed two Cobb County deputies has pleaded guilty to the murders. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.

Christopher Golden killed Jonathan Randall Koleski and Marshall Samuel Ervin Jr. on the evening of Sept. 8 in Marietta. Koleski and Ervin were attempting to arrest a second man, Christopher Cook, on theft charges. Golden confronted the deputies in a driveaway and shot one deputy in the head and one in the pelvis.

One of the deputies died at the scene, the other died on the way to the hospital.

District Attorney Flynn Broady said his office originally sought the death penalty before the defense approached his team about a plea deal. The District Attorney’s Office accepted the plea deal after “multiple conversations with [Koleski and Ervin’s] families and a full and thorough review of the case.”

“This plea today will allow their families to put the case behind them and focus on healing,” Broady said.

Golden was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole plus 55 years, which is the most the office could seek if it wasn’t seeking the death penalty.

Koleski and Ervin are the first two Cobb County deputies to be killed in the line of duty in more than 30 years.