Duluth man found guilty of murder of 19-year-old woman in 2022 in Flowery Branch

GWINNETT COUNTY, Georgia. – A Gwinnett County jury convicted a Duluth man of stabbing a 19-year-old woman to death following an argument over money.

Timothy James Krueger, 51, was found guilty on Friday of first-degree murder, first-degree murder and aggravated assault for stabbing Sarai Llanos Gomez to death on June 16, 2022. The jury deliberated for two hours before reaching a verdict.

“This was a cruel, brutal death for this young woman,” said District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson. “Ms. Llanos Gomez has two children who are motherless. The defendant was cold and calculating, and the jury's swift verdict will give Ms. Llanos Gomez and her family and loved ones the justice they deserve.”

According to the indictment, on the evening of June 16, 2022, Krueger requested an escort and a different woman was sent to his home than the one he wanted. At some point after Llanos Gomez arrived, an argument broke out over the amount of pay she was receiving. Krueger, who had been robbed by an escort before, became agitated. Llanos, who was much smaller than Krueger, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and attempted to leave the house.

Sarai Llanos Gomez (Hall County Sheriff's Office).

Krueger took the knife from her, stabbed her in the back and then repeatedly throughout her body before finally slitting her throat, investigators said. He then cut off Llanos Gomez's clothes, wrapped her body in a blanket and placed it in his car. Investigators say he took the body to the woods of a residential area in Hall County, where he disposed of the remains.

Homeowners in the Hall County neighborhood discovered Llanos Gomez's body four days later and called police. Investigators were able to identify Llanos Gomez and locate her at Krueger's home based on cell phone activity. Police matched a suspect's vehicle captured by a Hall County resident's Ring camera to Krueger's car, and he confessed to killing Llanos Gomez, although he claimed self-defense in court.

The verdict against Krueger will be announced at a later date.