Ex-Georgia deputy gets life in prison for killing lover

A disgraced former Georgia sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting his married girlfriend in the back of the head after she belittled his penis size. 

Jason “Moose” Cunningham, 48, formerly with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, has pleaded guilty to malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the cold-blooded June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Nicole Harrington, reported the station WJBF.

Cunningham told investigators that he shot Harrington, his married mom-of-three girlfriend, in the back of the head at least once after she “insult[ed] the size of his manhood,” according to a statement from the Augusta District Attorney’s Office.

Cunningham then left the woman to die in a parking garage elevator in downtown Augusta.

Following the killing, the ex-deputy was involved in an eight-hour standoff with cops at Clarks Hill Lake before being arrested.

On Monday, Cunningham was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison on the murder charge, and another five years for the weapons count.

According to an affidavit obtained by the station WRDW, Cunningham told detectives that he had gone to the parking garage at the Augusta Convention Center around 6 a.m. on June 18, 2020, to meet his paramour in order to end their affair.

During the conversation, Cunningham and Harrington got into a heated argument, which escalated to homicidal violence after the woman reportedly took a dig at her lover’s penis.

Cunningham said Harrington was loud and he “didn’t know what to do,” so he shot his girlfriend in the head as she entered the elevator.

 “This was an extramarital affair in which the defendant was living a double life,” District Attorney Jared Williams said.

Cunningham served as deputy for about 14 years, before resigning his post in February 2018 after failing a drug test.

He also worked as a marketing director for a veterans’ organization in Georgia.