SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A former metro Atlanta high school football coach faces up to 30 years in prison for strangling his girlfriend in another state.
Carl Kearney Jr. accepted a plea deal on a second-degree murder charge in Patrina Best’s death. Police said Kearney, 43, strangled Best during an argument at her Maryland home in Feb. 2024. Officers said the coach confessed when they interviewed him.
Kearney was the head football coach at Spalding High School. His arrest happened while the district was out on winter break.
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At a news conference Friday, State Attorney for Prince George’s County Aisha N. Braveboy described Best’s death as a loss to the community.
Best followed in her family’s footsteps in healthcare and traveled across the country as a nurse. Braveboy said that her office wanted to bring the family a sense of closure.
“There is no sentence that would be just in a case like this,” Braveboy said. “But this plea does bring closure to the family, and we’re able to move forward with getting them the services they need to continue on with their lives.”
Kearney’s initial charges included both first-degree murder and second-degree murder. Prosecutors dropped the first-degree murder charge, citing that there was no evidence that Kearney planned to kill Best.
“You know, every indication is that he and Patrina were on good terms when he was here, that they had gone out to dinner and were having, you know, a fun evening together before this awful crime was committed,” Braveboy said.
Kearney’s sentencing is scheduled for June.
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