Roughly two years ago, a Gwinnett County man told police his wife killed herself after an argument. At the time, investigators didn’t think that was true.
On Thursday, a jury agreed. Glenroy Roberts, 53, was found guilty of fatally shooting his wife of 21 years, 45-year-old Claudia Dionne Roberts. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus five years, Gwinnett officials said Friday. The estranged couple’s 10-year-old son was home at the time and heard the gunfire, prosecutors said.
“This couple has sons who have to grow up without either of their parents at home,” Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “Domestic violence is a tragedy. We extend our condolences to each and every loved one and member of this family.”
It was around 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2022, when Glenroy Roberts called 911 to report a shooting at his apartment, located in the 100 block of Bethesda Church Road, not far from the intersection of Lawrenceville Highway and Ronald Reagan Parkway.
On the line, he told the operator that his wife had taken a gun from his closet, and as he tried to wrestle it away from her, it went off, authorities said. However, Glenroy Roberts later told police a different version of events.
He told detectives that he was not in the room at the time of the shooting but heard gunfire and ran in to check what had happened, according to prosecutors. That’s when he found his wife in the closet, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he alleged.
Their son told officers he heard at least four shots, prosecutors noted. Investigators ultimately found evidence that indicated Claudia Roberts was shot in the head and that the wound was not self-inflicted.
Glenroy Roberts was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
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