Dad pleads guilty as teen son faces trial in Columbus woman’s gruesome slaying
A father has pleaded guilty as his teen son faces trial in the fatal shooting and stabbing of a Columbus woman found sitting dead in a lawn chair.
Emily McDaniel, 37, was shot in the head and had multiple stab wounds to her abdomen when she was found around 10 p.m. Sept. 19, 2020, at her Rosemont Drive home, authorities said.
Investigators said the mother of two had been dating Joshuah Larry Fredette, whose 14-year-old son shot her with a stolen gun before calling his father to say she still was breathing. Investigators said the father then told him to kill her to leave no witnesses.
That’s according to testimony from the suspects’ 2020 preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, where a detective said Fredette told police he was picking up food at a local Burger King, when his son called.
“At that point, Fredette said he said something to his son to the effect of, ‘Well, if you’re going to kill her, you need to kill her because otherwise you’re leaving a witness,’” the officer said.
The son then used a butcher knife he found on the ground nearby to stab McDaniel repeatedly, before washing the blade and putting it in a cabinet, the detective testified.
Both father and son were charged with murder. The father, now 47, faced charges also of evidence tampering, for collecting the shell casings and hiding them, and for possessing the controlled substance Alprazolam, which is used to treat anxiety and depression.
Plea and trial
Fredette’s murder charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter, and he pleaded guilty also to evidence tampering, on Monday. Superior Court Judge Ron Mullins sentenced him to 30 years in prison with 15 years to serve and the rest on probation.
His drug charge was dropped. He’s to have no contact with McDaniel’s family upon his release, said District Attorney Stacey Jackson.
Fredette apologized to the victim’s family, during his sentencing hearing, attorneys said. McDaniel’s two children were ages 8 and 11 at the time she was killed.
Fredette’s son, Hagan Everett Fredette, who’s now 16, is set to be tried for murder on March 6.
Charged as an adult, under Georgia law, he’s also accused of aggravated assault, of using a gun to commit a crime, and of stealing the gun from his employer.
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 10:38 AM.