A man was found guilty on May 20, 2022, of felony murder, aggravated assault by strangulation, and concealing the death of 19-year-old Te’a Choates in DeKalb County, Georgia, according to District Attorney Sherry Boston. Locklear was sentenced to life in prison by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson.
Twenty-year-old Aldeyshaun Locklear was accused of strangling his pregnant fiancé and burying her in her grandmother’s backyard in 2019 in Lithonia, Georgia.
In August 2019, Choate’s grandmother reported that her grandchild was missing after no one had heard from her in a few days. Since Locklear and Choates were living with the grandmother at the time, investigators questioned him.
Locklear told investigators that he saw Choates leaving with friends and denied knowing anything about her disappearance. Investigators then said Locklear changed his story, said that they had an argument, and Choates pulled a knife on him. He said he shoved her and she hit her head on the bathtub, and that he tried doing CPR but she wouldn’t wake up.
After investigators dug up Choates’ body, Locklear changed his story again, saying that he strangled her to death. Choates was also three months pregnant at the time.
According to the investigation, Choates had suffered physical abuse in the months leading up to her death.
