Victim Alasia Franklin was shot outside campus housing; suspect fled in her car.
MARIETTA, Ga. — A 22-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison in Cobb County after pleading guilty to killing Kennesaw State University nursing student Alasia J. Franklin in a May 2024 shooting outside the Austin Residence Complex on the school’s Kennesaw campus.
The sentence ends a case that rattled one of Georgia’s largest universities and echoed in Franklin’s hometown of Cairo, where friends said she was known for ambition and service. The guilty plea resolved the prosecution without a trial, but officials said the facts established by investigators showed a brief dispute ended in a burst of gunfire that left a student dead at campus housing and sent classmates into lockdown.
On May 18, 2024, police were called to Kennesaw State’s student housing area after reports of an argument and shots fired. Investigators said they found Franklin’s body near the entrance to the Austin Residence Complex. Detectives said Samuel El Harris, who was not a Kennesaw State student, fired 11 shots at Franklin, his former girlfriend. The shooting happened in the afternoon, and students nearby later described hearing rapid gunfire and then seeing police flood the area.
One of the first people to reach the scene, student government leader Anthony Harrison, said he had been inside when he heard the shots. He later described stepping outside and being stunned by what he saw. As he called 911, he said, he did not immediately realize the victim was Franklin, someone he knew well through campus activities. “I couldn’t even recognize the way she looked,” Harrison said, speaking in the days after the shooting. University officials said the campus was locked down for about 30 minutes as police searched for the suspect.
Police arrested Harris a short time later, authorities said. Investigators said he was located roughly 10 miles from the campus near a Marietta apartment complex. Prosecutors said Harris had a 9 mm Glock handgun that ballistic testing later linked to the shooting. Officials also said Harris fled the campus in Franklin’s car, a detail that became part of the case record as detectives tracked his movements after the gunfire. The quick arrest ended the immediate threat, but it did not ease the grief that spread across campus and through Franklin’s family and friends.
Harris’ guilty plea included malice murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm in a school zone, and tampering with evidence. The charges reflect both the killing and the setting: a residence complex in a school zone, where students and staff expected a normal day. Prosecutors said the plea ensured a life sentence without putting witnesses through a lengthy trial, while also securing convictions on weapons and evidence-related counts tied to the events after the shooting.
During sentencing, the focus turned repeatedly to who Franklin was before the violence. Cobb County District Attorney Sonya F. Allen described Franklin as a standout student with clear goals and deep campus involvement. Allen said Franklin wanted to become a nurse practitioner and was building a résumé to match her plans. Officials said Franklin served on the university’s homecoming court, participated in the National Council of Negro Women and founded Kennesaw State’s Integrated Health Science Club. “Not only was she accomplished, but she also tried to see the good in everyone and make them better,” Allen said in remarks that framed the case around loss as well as punishment.
When Franklin was killed, university leaders issued statements offering condolences and outlining immediate support. Kennesaw State President Kathy S. Schwaig said the school’s sympathies were with Franklin’s family and friends. University officials said counseling and other resources would be available to students and staff affected by the shooting. Investigators said Kennesaw State University police worked alongside outside agencies, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as detectives gathered evidence and the case moved into the criminal court system in Cobb County.
The shooting also sparked an emotional debate about safety around student housing. In interviews after Franklin’s death, students said they wanted tighter access to residence areas and more visible security. Harrison, speaking as a student government leader, said the killing should be a turning point for how campuses control who enters dorm spaces. His comments reflected the mood across student housing, where classmates mourned Franklin while also grappling with fear and anger that an armed outsider could reach a dorm entrance during a busy weekend afternoon.
Franklin’s friends described her as determined, outspoken and prepared for a career in health care. In campus circles, she was known not only for classwork but for involvement and mentoring. People close to her said she pushed herself and encouraged others, and they saw her ambitions as part of what made her death especially hard to accept. The court case, which stretched into 2026, kept the details of her killing in public view while her peers graduated, moved away and tried to carry forward memories of who she was.
With the guilty plea accepted and the life sentence imposed, the case now shifts from courtroom proceedings to long-term incarceration and the administrative work that follows a major felony conviction. Court filings are expected to finalize the sentence terms under Georgia law, and the remaining public steps will largely be procedural. For those who knew Franklin, the legal ending does not change the loss, but it marks a clear point where the criminal case stops moving and her story returns to her life on campus and the future she planned.
The latest status is that sentencing is complete and the prosecution is closed, with final orders expected to be entered on the Cobb County docket in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated February 20, 2026.