BERRIEN CO – A Coffee County man was sentenced to life in prison in the Berrien County Superior Court for felony murder of a Berrien County man.

Release:

A Coffee County man was sentenced on September 24 th , 2024, in Berrien County Superior Court to life in prison following his entry of a guilty plea to felony murder. Alapaha Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Richard L. Perryman handed down the sentence after Markevis Shaunia Myers entered the plea and the Court heard an emotional impact statement from the family of the victim.

Records show that 37-year-old Myers was arrested by special agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after Myers came to the residence of Steven Nicholas Houston in Berrien County between the late hours of December 17th , 2022, and early December 18th , 2022.

According to law enforcement, Myers was in a relationship with a woman who also resided at the residence. Myers had been asked by the Huston to stay away from the residence due to prior altercations between Myers and his girlfriend. When Houston answered the door, Myers began striking him in the face. Houston was pronounced deceased by medical personnel approximately three days later. The indictment filed in this case as well as the autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation indicates Houston died of blunt force trauma to the head after Myers struck him with his hands and legs.

Myers was escorted out of a Berrien County courtroom by courthouse security deputies and returned to the Berrien County Law Enforcement Center, where he has been held since his arrest. He is currently awaiting transfer to the Department of Corrections to begin serving his life sentence.

District Attorney Chase L. Studstill thanked law enforcement officers with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, Region 4 of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Smith in investigating and preparing this case for trial. Studstill also commented on the remarkable job done by the administrative assistants and victim advocates in his office. “It is my hope this resolution will bring closure for the family and that they can begin to heal.”