GACOBB COUNTY, Ga. (Court TV) — A Georgia man convicted of breaking into a home and murdering a firefighter and his wife was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.
Matthew Lanz reacts to the judge’s verdict in his double murder trial on Nov. 20, 2025. (Court TV)
Matthew Lanz, 26, received two consecutive life sentences for the November 2021 murders of Justin and Amber Hicks, both 31, who were shot multiple times in their Acworth home while their 2-year-old son slept in his crib. Judge Sonja Brown handed down the sentence after Lanz waived his right to appear at the hearing.
The sentencing came one day after Brown convicted Lanz of multiple charges, including two counts of malice murder, following a bench trial. Lanz was also found guilty of cruelty to children for leaving the couple’s toddler alone in the home for hours after the murders.
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During Friday’s emotional hearing, family members delivered powerful victim impact statements that moved the courtroom to tears. Timothy Hicks, Justin’s father, told the judge he forgave Lanz for the murders despite the devastating impact on their family.
The elder Hicks described how the couple’s young son, Jacob, was found the next morning covered in blood and trying to cuddle with his deceased parents. The toddler lost both his parents that night and will grow up without them.
Justin’s sister, Ashley Hicks, spoke about the lasting trauma of finding her loved ones and the haunting image of Jacob trying to wake up his deceased parents.
Prosecutor Stephany Green emphasized the calculated nature of the crime during the trial, describing it as a planned, premeditated murder rather than a random act of violence.
An empty chair is seen at the defense counsel table after Matthew Lanz refused to appear for sentencing on Nov. 21, 2025. (Court TV)
The murders occurred on November 17, 2021, when Lanz broke into the Hicks family’s dream home through a back window. Surveillance video showed Lanz walking around the property multiple times between 9:31 and 9:55 p.m. before entering the home and shooting the couple. He left the scene at 10:10 p.m.
Justin Hicks was a Cherokee County firefighter, and Amber worked in healthcare. The couple had purchased their home just 73 days before the murders, shortly after their son’s second birthday.
Lanz was arrested two days after the murders when he broke into another home in nearby Fulton County and stabbed a responding Sandy Springs police officer. He was shot by other officers during that incident and faces separate charges for that crime.
The case was delayed multiple times after Lanz was ruled incompetent to stand trial due to mental health issues. Following a hearing in October where a forensic psychologist testified that he suffered from schizophrenia, a judge ruled him competent to proceed.
During the trial, Lanz’s defense argued that he believed he had been set up by a government agency, but he declined to testify in his own defense, repeatedly telling the judge, “No comment” during questioning.
This story was reported by Tiffany Smith and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
