COBB COUNTY, GA — The trial of a man accused of breaking into an Acworth home and killing a firefighter and his wife continues Wednesday in Cobb County, following emotional testimony from the suspect’s parents about the moments before they learned their son was a murder suspect.
Matthew Lanz is charged with killing Justin and Amber Hicks after allegedly breaking into their home.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, prosecutors played police interviews with Lanz’s parents, Teresa and Scott, who described being stunned when officers told them their college-aged son was the suspect in their neighbors’ double homicide.
Teresa Lanz bent over in tears and her husband buried his head in his hands as they heard the news inside a Cobb County police room. They told investigators that while Matthew and his brother had shown some sort of fixation with the Hicks’ house, they did not believe Matthew knew who lived there.
Just a day before their son’s arrest, Teresa and Scott traveled to Athens to inform him that the Hicks had been found shot to death. They told police they found Matthew sleeping with a gun nearby, a weapon they said he claimed he kept for protection because he believed someone was after him. They said Matthew denied any involvement, telling his parents, “I didn’t murder anyone.”
Prosecutors say Lanz was arrested two days after the killings when he allegedly broke into another home and stabbed a Sandy Springs police officer. He will be tried separately for that incident.
The case has faced repeated delays after Lanz was previously ruled incompetent to stand trial. A judge found him competent last month. Lanz has opted for a bench trial, meaning the judge, not a jury, will decide the verdict.
The case has drawn national attention due to the history involving Lanz’s brother, Austin, who was arrested for breaking into the same home months before it was sold to the Hicks family. Austin later fatally stabbed a Pentagon police officer in 2021 before taking his own life.
So far, prosecutors have not established a clear motive in the killings. Testimony in the case are set to continue Wednesday.
WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.
