VIENNA, Ga. (WALB) - Tony Adams Jr of Vienna was convicted of the murder of his mother, Belinda Woodson, in 2018 in Dooly County, according to a release from Brad Rigby, the district attorney for the Cordele Judicial Circuit.

Vienna police officers responded to a call about gunshots at Woodson’s home, according to the release. When police arrived, they found Woodson dead from stab wounds and gunshot wounds, the release continues.

According to the release from the Georgia Supreme Court, Adams testified in his own defense and claimed that he was not “there in spirit” when he killed his mother.

The release continues to say, “his body had a criminal in it’” and committed the crimes, and that he could not remember the situation.

Adams attributed his actions to the fact that he had previously been “hit with needles and blood” and was “drug-abused and date raped.”

When asked why he shot himself in the arm, Adams stated it was because of a “clear possession. Possession. An exorcism.”

After a four-day trial, Adams was found guilty of the shooting and stabbing death of Woodson in May 2018.

Another trial was held in 2021, and on Nov. 2, 2021, the trial court sentenced Adams to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Adams filed for a new trial in Nov. 2021, and it was given to a new counsel on July 30, 2024.

Below is a list of dates following the request for a new trial:

• Jan. 14, 2025: Trial court denied the motion for a new trial, as amended on April 14, 2025
• April 21, 2025: Adams filed a notice of appeal
• August 2025: The case was documented and submitted for a decision on the briefs

As of Jan 5, 2026, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled the following:

• Vacated his aggravated assault conviction because it should have been included with his original malice murder charge
• Vacated his sentence of five additional years to serve after the aggravated assault charge, since that was vacated, and remanded the trial court to resentence Adams on that count, which could run consecutively to another of the remaining counts

The report from the Georgia Supreme Court says the following regarding the aggravated assault conviction that was vacated:

“Although the trial court purported to merge Count 3 into Count 2 for sentencing purposes, it should have instead been merged into Count 1 because Count 2 was vacated.”

Read the full Supreme Court ruling below:

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