December 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
A man convicted in August of attempted first degree murder in a 2017 knife attack on his wife was in criminal court Tuesday for sentencing but the hearing has been delayed until February 21.
31 year old Andrew Billings stood trial and was found guilty by a jury panel of 7 men and 5 women on August 14. Along with the guilty verdict, the jury assessed a $50,000 fine.
Billings remains behind bars in the Robertson County Jail, where he has been held, without bond pending a sentencing hearing in DeKalb County Criminal Court which was first set for September 20 before being re-scheduled to December 10 and now February 21.
Billings was accused of slitting the throat of his wife, Adriana with a long kitchen knife before leaving her by the side of Allen Ferry Road in the Ragland Bottom area on April 4, 2017.
Although Billings did not deny the knife attack, his defense was that he was on meth at the time and that he took out his rage on Adriana thinking she had turned over to authorities a recording of a statement he made implicating himself in a meth case.
Billings’ attorney Brandon Cox argued that Billings’ use of meth in the days leading up to the assault made him paranoid and agitated and rendered him incapable of premeditation. State prosecutors countered that Billings’ actions proved that he had planned the attack on Adriana and that his use of meth could not be an excuse for committing such a horrific crime.
As an A felony the range of punishment for this offense is from 15-25 years.
Billings also has other charges pending against him including aggravated child abuse, neglect, endangerment of a child 8 or younger and initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine.