Convicted murderer sentenced to life without parole

Mar. 8—A man convicted of malice murder by a Whitfield County jury in February was sentenced to life in prison — without the possibility of parole — by Conasauga Judicial Circuit Judge Scott Minter on Friday, March 8.

Defendant Christopher Napoleon Barrett was also found guilty of one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, two counts of firearm possession by a convicted felon and one count of concealing a death.

For those four additional offenses, Minter sentenced Barrett to an additional term totaling 25 years in prison — once again, without the possibility of parole.

Barrett was found guilty of murdering Adairsville resident David Casler-Tyrrell, 55, outside of his place of employment off Cleveland Highway in 2021.

"You must never be allowed to victimize the citizens of our community again," Minter stated. "You must be kept away from law-abiding citizens and you need to spend every remaining day of your life behinds bars and die in prison."

Jurors did not find Barrett guilty of one count of felony murder and one count of armed robbery in last month's trial.

By a preponderance of the evidence, however, Minter did find Barrett guilty of committing those two additional offenses as part of a probation revocation hearing held before sentencing.

That resulted in almost two years remaining from a prior 2008 conviction being revoked for Barrett.

"Your Honor has in front of you a defendant who has five prior felony convictions on top of the fact that one of them is a seven deadly in and of itself, this man has a conviction for armed robbery," stated Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Benjamin Kenemer. "Mr. Barrett has provided no reason today for your Honor to even entertain the idea that he deserves the chance at parole."

The state indicated that Barrett also has previous convictions for aggravated assault, escape, felony theft by taking and violations of Georgia's Controlled Substances Act.

The defendant was represented by attorney Jerry Moncus in the March 8 proceedings.

Roughly a dozen Whitfield County Sheriff's Office deputies were stationed inside the courtroom for the sentencing hearing.

Several family members of the victim testified.

"You have no idea what you've done," Julie Casler-Tyrrell, the spouse of the decedent, told Barrett. "He was not only my husband, he was my friend and I don't have him in my life anymore because of you."

She recalled her husband as a dedicated worker and family man.

"You took that all away from us the night you shot him in the head," she said. "I pray to God that you get the maximum sentence so that you can't kill anybody else or get out to kill anybody else. Because you're nothing but evil."

Bryan Casler-Tyrrell, the son of the victim, also read a victim impact statement.

"My father was an amazing man, he was worth a hell of a lot more than you," he told Barrett. "My father was everything you will never be — I hope you enjoy the rest of your life, which will be spent in prison. I hope your family gets to feel some of the pain that you've brought upon mine."

Aislinn Tyrrell-Hanbury, the daughter of the decedent, addressed the court via videoconference.

"You robbed me of my peace and my sense of security and with that, you took the chance for my father to meet my husband, to be a grandfather to my daughter and to build lasting memories with her," she told Barrett. "The Bible says in order to get into Heaven we must forgive those that trespass against us, at this point in my life I am not there yet. And if it just so happens that the Lord chooses to take me before I come to terms with this, I will see you in Hell."

Minter afforded Barrett the opportunity to speak before he was sentenced.

"I can't take it back, I can't change it, it is what it is," he said. "There's nothing I can do to bring him back and I apologize."

Minter described the defendant as a "non-productive member of society," adding that he believes Barrett learned "nothing" from his previous time in incarceration.

"Almost as soon as you were released, you murdered David Casler-Tyrrell," he said. "You roam around from place to place in the night, you said that yourself on the witness stand, looking into other people's windows, seeing what you can steal — and while you were out doing that, you killed this man."