A former sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to at least 35 years in prison for murdering of his married girlfriend after she insulted his penis size.
Jason Cunningham, 48, fatally shot 37 -year-old Nicole Harrington in the back of the head in a parking garage elevator in downtown Augusta in June 2020, authorities say.
Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams said in a statement that Cunningham had become incensed after Harrington insulted “the size of his manhood”.
Cunningham was then involved in an eight-hour stand-off with Columbia County deputies at a boat ramp at Clarks Hill Lake before being taken into custody.
On Monday, Cunningham was sentenced to 30 years after pleading guilty to murder, and a further five years for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
According to an affidavit obtained by WRDW, Cunningham claimed he had gone to meet Harrington to end their affair.
He told investigators the pair started to argue, and he shot her in the head as she entered an elevator.
“This was an extramarital affair in which the defendant was living a double life,” District Attorney Williams said.
Cunningham resigned from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in 2018 when he tested positive for an illegal substance after he was involved in an accident while on duty, WFXG reported.
Harrington, from Florida, was survived by three children.
Cunningham also worked as a marketing manager for Forces United, a veterans support organisation in Georgia.
