The charges against a suspect believed to have set fire to a home in northwest Atlanta in 2018, killing an elderly couple, were dropped by Fulton County prosecutors.
Cornelius Muckle, whom authorities said pawned several items belonging to Deborah Hubbard, 65, and her husband Harry Hubbard, 67, two days after their deaths in June 2018, was released from the Fulton County Jail last week after prosecutors dropped murder and arson charges against him.
In a statement, the Fulton County DA’s office said they only bring indictments to trial “when there is sufficient evidence to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“The evidence did not meet that standard in this case and adhering to the fundamental principle that the state bears the burden of proof, and every indicted person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the office made the decision to not prosecute Mr. Muckle,” the statement reads.
Former Fulton County DA Paul Howard said a Google geofence search warrant, which allows the tech company to search for mobile devices within a specific area, identified Muckle as the suspect who was inside the Hubbard’s home 20 minutes before a 911 call was placed regarding the fire that caused their deaths.
Muckle’s trial was scheduled to start Oct. 3.
The decision to drop the charges against Muckle came just a month after Deborah Hubbard’s son Keith Sylvester was awarded a $1.5 million settlement from the city of Atlanta after spending 15 months in jail for being wrongly accused by the Atlanta Police Department in the deaths of his parents.
“I feel a lot better now,” Sylvester told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the settlement was approved. “I know that this could have went another way and that’s even scary still thinking about that. I’m just very happy that the truth came out. I’m very happy about the current situation.”
‘Sylvester helped investigators all he could following the night of his parents’ death, but five months later, he was charged with murder and accused of committing the crime in a bid for insurance money.
The charges were dropped in March 2020 after evidence pointed toward Muckle allegedly committing the crime. As a result of being wrongly accused, Sylvester filed a lawsuit in September 2019.
Sylvester’s lawsuit against Atlanta police investigator James Barnett was dismissed in 2022 but later revived by a federal appeals court in March. Court records showed Barnett omitted key facts in his affidavit for the arrest warrant against Sylvester.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a reasonable jury could find Barnett intentionally or recklessly left out information that exonerated Sylvester. Even if the information had been corrected, the court ruled, Barnett’s reasoning for arresting Sylvester in the first place “fails to establish even arguable probable cause.”
In a statement, Sylvester’s attorney Zack Greenamyre blamed Barnett for the botched investigation and blamed the city and DA’s office for “too often turning a blind eye to false testimony.” He said the family is disappointed justice was delayed and denied once again.
“Not only did this police misconduct cause Mr. Sylvester to lose more than a year of his life; not only was he denied the chance to mourn his parents with dignity; not only did it cost the city a lot of money; now, it seems the real killer won’t be brought to justice because a lying officer almost necessarily creates reasonable doubt,” the statement reads.
The Atlanta Police Department said Barnett is still an investigator with the agency. According to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records, Barnett was hired as a police officer in October 2005 before being promoted to investigator in April 2010. He has no disciplinary history.
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