Son pleads guilty to killing father, wounding mother

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The son of a popular Georgia high school football coach charged with killing his father and wounding his mother with a kitchen knife last May pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to life in prison plus five years.

The prosecution had been seeking the death penalty against Charles R. Mize Jr., 24, described as a stable, fun-loving young man by friends and neighbors.

After the defendant changed his plea to guilty of malice murder, prosecutor Bill Wiley said he would not ask for a jury to impose the death penalty because of the nature of the crime.

‘You’ve got a son killing his father, his mother being a victim also, and she lived through it,’ said Wiley. ‘You never know what a jury’s going to to do with something like that.’

Mize could be eligible for parole in seven years.

Gwinnett County Police found Charles Ross Mize, the football coach at Parkview High School in Lilburn, dead from several knife wounds in an upstairs bathroom in his home, where he had reportedly taken refuge from his son.

His wife Judy, found in an adjacent bedroom, had been stabbed as many as 12 times but persuaded her son to call the police. She recovered from her injuries following surgery

Defense attorney Don Hudson said Mize, who decided on his own to change his plea, has shown extreme remorse since the killing.

‘Any time you can avoid the death penalty and dispose of a case, even with a plea like this, you have to be somewhat satisfied,’ said Hudson. ‘It was a tragic situation for Chip and his family.’

‘His mother has indicated to the district attorney’s office that perhaps some day they can begin to heal their relationship,’ said Hudson.

Following the killing, Gwinnett County police spokesman Larry Walton said the only motive reportedly concerned a dispute over the son’s grades at Georgia State University.

‘There had been some pressure apparently in the past pertaining to grades and activities on the part of the mother and father,’ he said.