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Stockbridge man sentenced after pleading guilty to sex charges
Toren James Galardi
Toren James Galardi
Darryl Welch
Published: Jun 13, 2018, 2:09 PM

COVINGTON, Ga. - A 24-year-old Stockbridge man will spend the next ten years in a Georgia prison after pleading guilty to statutory rape and child molestation charges in Newton County Superior Court Tuesday morning.

Toren James Galardi had been in the Newton County jail since his arrest by Covington police nearly a year ago. Galardi was taken into custody just past 12:30 a.m. June 15, 2017 after a CPD officer checking on an occupied suspicious vehicle parked behind an Access Road restaurant found him with an underage girl.

According to evidence presented in court, both were wearing only their underwear when found by police. Both reportedly admitted that they had had sex in Galardi’s Ford Taurus.

The teen reportedly told authorities that she had met Galardi on a dating app and that they had communicated via social media for a few days before he picked her up for the encounter.

After the plea, Alcovy Circuit Judge John Ott sentenced Galardi to 30 years with 10 to be served in confinement.  Once he is released, he will not be allowed any unsupervised contact with children under 16 years of age.
Newton County jury finds Covington man guilty of felony murder
Shane Robinson
Shane Robinson - photo by Courtesy of the Newton County Sheriff's Office
Kate Verity
Published: Mar 31, 2025, 9:15 PM

NEWTON COUNTY – On Monday afternoon, 30-year-old Shane Alexander Robinson of Covington was found guilty of killing Charles Edward Stanley III over three years ago.

The Newton County District Attorney’s Office released that a jury deemed that Robinson was guilty on three charges: Felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

On March 5, 2022, sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight, Robinson shot an AR-style firearm at a vehicle that Stanley was driving along Harvey Wood Drive. According to the District Attorney’s release, Robinson fired the weapon 13 times into the vehicle, killing Stanley.

According to a previous report by The Covington News, an arrest warrant stated that Robinson “grabbed his AR-15 (rifle) and drove” from his home to Harvey Wood Drive to “scare” Stanley.

“When Charles was backing up, Shane admitted to firing several rounds at the vehicle,” the 2022 warrant stated. “Furthermore, Shane also initially stated that he fired rounds at the vehicle as it was driving away.”

Robinson initially faced charges of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, unauthorized discharge of firearms within 50 yards of the public highway, and reckless conduct. It is not clear if some of these charges were dismissed.

Sentencing is set for a later date, which has not been announced. A co-defendant’s case is still pending.