Man who beat mother's boyfriend to death on Christmas gets five years

photo John Dwight Phillips appears before Judge William T. Boyett in Murray County, Ga., Superior Court on Monday for jury selection. Phillips is charged with homicide in the beating death of his mother's boyfriend, Tommy Walraven, during a drunken argument on Christmas day last year.
photo Tommy Walraven

John Dwight Phillips, the Murray County, Ga., man who beat his mother's boyfriend to death last Christmas, is going to prison for five years.

A jury convicted Phillips of involuntary manslaughter on Oct. 8. He was sentenced in court this morning. Phillips will also be on probation for five years after leaving prison, Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bert Poston said.

Last Christmas, according to witness testimonies, Phillips got into an argument with his wife, drank 15-20 beers and ended up at the home of his mother, Terry Lynn Welch. Then, he got into an argument with Welch's boyfriend, Tommy Walraven.

Walraven told Phillips to go home to his wife. Phillips told Walraven to leave, too. Walraven then grabbed an unloaded shotgun and pressed it into Phillips' gut.

Phillips testified that he beat Walraven, sending the 62 year old reeling to the front door. As Phillips beat Walraven, Welch took the shotgun away. Phillips continued to fight.

At one point, his mother testified, Phillips stood over Walraven and punched him repeatedly while Walraven sat on the couch. Phillips and Welch then went to sleep, leaving Walraven in the living room in a puddle of blood. Four hours after the fight, Welch called 911, and sheriff's deputies found him unconscious.

At Walraven's family's wish, doctors took him off life support on Dec. 27.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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