Dublin man sentenced to life without parole in 2025 fatal shooting

A Dublin man was sentenced to life without parole almost a month after a Laurens County jury found him guilty in the 2025 shooting death of a 27-year-old man.

Dontavis Lovett, 18, who was found guilty of one count of malice murder and two counts of felony murder in the death Anthony Jamar Coley on April 29, 2025 on 511 Rutland Drive, received his sentence  Wednesday from Dublin Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Jon Helton. Lovett was also found guilty on one county of burglary in the second degree, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of firearm during commission of a felony.

Assistant District Attorney Tommy Williams informed Helton that Lovett was 16, three days shy of turning 17, when he was recruited to go to Coley’s house to steal a four-wheeler. Officers responded to the location after receiving an alert from the city’s gunshot detection system around 2 a.m. Upon arrival, officers saw a man, later identified as Coley, in the backyard with gunshot wounds.

They saw Coley lying in the driver’s side of a car. An officer retrieved a medical kit from his patrol car and began observing the wounds and caring for Coley until the Dublin Fire Department and EMS arrived on the scene.

Coley was transported to Fairview Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead by Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley.

“The victim gave him a chance to surrender,” Williams said. “He chose to shoot.”

Coley’s mother gave an impact statement. She told Lovett that killing her son “took a piece of me.”

“He was my joy and a man who had so much left to live,” the mother said.

Coley’s mother said the words of her son being shot “don’t fade.” It is hard for her to sleep, and she now has to take medication.

“His daughter will not get to meet her daddy,” she said. “She waits for him to come home. Why wasn’t my son given a chance to live? This was a choice. He doesn’t have a voice. There is a sentence that applies to what (Lovett) did.” 

Lovett’s attorney, Dublin Circuit public defender Taylor Rinberger said it was uncommon to punish juveniles to the highest degree possible and that the earliest Lovett would be allowed for parole, if he received that opportunity, was 2056.

“We don’t know what that will look like,” Rinberger said. “He is 18. He could get out at 48.” 

Williams went through Lovett’s juvenile record and brought up the fact that he is a suspect in connection with a shooting that happened in Vinson Village in May.

“This is a long pattern of behavior,” he said. “Juveniles can receive life without parole. Homicide does require the harshest of penalty. … We believe rehabilitation is not possible.”