THOMASVILLE — Robert Carter will spend the rest of his life in prison, following his sentencing Wednesday afternoon.

A jury of 10 women and two men found Carter guilty of the remaining 19 charges against him, including four counts of kidnapping, four counts of armed robbery, two counts of theft by taking and one count of concealing the death of another.

Judge Brian McDaniel imposed five separate sentences on Carter, including 17 years for the crimes he was found guilty of committing against Deanna Shirey.

McDaniel imposed four separate life sentences for each of the next four sets of counts against Carter.

Shirey’s son-in-law Nick Abiusi, her sister and Shirey’s great-granddaughter read victim impact witness statements before Judge McDaniel imposed his sentence.

The state rested its case Wednesday morning and the defense did not call any witnesses. Carter also declined to take the stand in his defense. 

However, his attorney, Rick Collum, asked for directed verdicts on the first two counts in the indictment against Carter — murder and false imprisonment. Judge McDaniel granted those directed verdicts, meaning Carter will not be charged with those two offenses.

Carter was charged with the July 2018 murder of Deanna Shirey and burying her body in a shallow grave on his property. Collum argued that the body found in the grave was never positively identified as Shirey’s and no cause of death was stated. 

Collum also argued that there is no evidence that Carter was in Shirey’s house during the first days of July 2018 and no evidence Carter drove Shirey’s vehicle to Tallahassee, Florida and left it there. 

Prosecutors laid out a timeline, attempting to show that Carter left his Ford F-250 pickup at a convenience store near Shirey’s home and then a vehicle matching the description of Shirey’s was seen driving past a Beachton gas station. 

Prosecutors also said Carter later summoned a taxi to take him back to Thomasville.

The state also pointed to jewelry as being identified as belonging to Shirey was found in the carport near the shallow grave, and an Otterbox with her DNA on it was discovered in Carter’s trash. 

Carter still faces a slew of charges, including four charges of false imprisonment, kidnapping and armed robbery from incidents in Thomasville and Ochlocknee. The victims in each incident testified it was Carter who duct-taped them and asked for their debit cards. They knew Carter because he had done handyman work for them.