Accused killer’s parents tell police their son was seeing a psychiatrist, had ‘demonic side’

MARIETTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The bench trial for Matthew Scott Lanz picked back up Tuesday.

Lanz is accused of shooting his neighbors, Justin and Amber Hicks, to death in their Acworth home in 2021.

Justin was a Cherokee County firefighter for more than six years. Amber was an audiology assistant. Lanz lived on property that shared a fence with the couple, according to police.

The couple’s 2-year-old son, Jacob, was asleep upstairs when the shooting happened. He was left unharmed but was alone in the house for hours.

During opening statements, prosecutors told the judge that evidence presented during trial will show that it was Lanz’s gun used in this crime, his DNA and the victims’ DNA was found on the firearm, and surveillance video captured him walking around the Hicks’ home