Eduardo Figueroa had recently secured parental rights before prosecutors said he was killed outside an Acworth-area home.
CANTON, Ga. — A scheduled two-hour parenting visit that was meant to introduce Eduardo Gilberto Figueroa to his son ended with the 31-year-old Army veteran shot dead on a Cherokee County deck.
The April 15 sentencing of Nicholas Michael Mimms, 37, brought new finality to a case built around a narrow window of time: Figueroa’s planned visit from noon to 2 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2021. Prosecutors said Figueroa had recently established parental rights to the child he shared with a former fiancée, who later married Mimms. The court-approved parenting time was supposed to be supervised by Mimms, the child’s stepfather. Instead, the visit never happened, and the child and mother were not present when gunfire broke out.
Figueroa arrived at the Mohawk Trail home in the Acworth area just before noon carrying items for a child, including snacks, diapers, toys and a stuffed animal, according to prosecutors. Mimms was already outside on the deck, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a loaded firearm. The men had not met before. Assistant District Attorney Megan S. Hertel, who prosecuted the case, said the facts showed a sharp split between the purpose of the visit and the way Mimms prepared for it. “These were two men with very different plans about how this day should go,” Hertel said after sentencing.
The child was not at the home, and Figueroa began to leave after learning that, prosecutors said. Mimms called him back to talk. The full interaction lasted less than two minutes, the district attorney’s office said. Within that time, Mimms fired four shots that struck Figueroa in the side, back and arm. Cherokee Sheriff’s Office deputies responded at about noon and found Figueroa face down on the deck beside the house. He was dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Prosecutors said he was unarmed. Mimms told deputies he acted in self-defense because Figueroa had threatened him and was dangerous.
The claim of self-defense became a central issue at trial. Prosecutors said the jury heard evidence that Figueroa posed no threat and that Mimms had been waiting outside for him while armed and wearing body armor. A surveillance camera captured the audio of the shots and video showing Mimms immediately afterward. Jurors also reviewed about 200 exhibits during the three-week trial, including the firearm, the vest, medical reports, crime scene photographs, the stuffed animal and recordings tied to the scene. The state called 25 witnesses, a group that included law enforcement officers, medical experts and people familiar with the events before the shooting.
Jurors began deliberating after weeks of testimony and returned their verdict Feb. 13 after about eight hours. They found Mimms guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. They acquitted him of malice murder, a count tied to proof of an intentional killing with malice. The convictions still carried a life sentence because the jury found Figueroa died during a felony assault. At sentencing, Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. ordered Mimms to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus five additional years, and barred him from contacting Figueroa’s family.
Figueroa’s life outside the courtroom became part of the sentencing record through statements from relatives, who described his excitement about finally meeting his son and his plans to be in the child’s life. His obituary says he was born June 17, 1990, to Elizabeth Arroyo and Eduardo Figueroa Sr. and was the second child in his family. It says he graduated from Ridgeview High School in South Carolina, served in the U.S. Army and later studied at Kennesaw State University, where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in game design and development. Family members said he loved video game design and had hoped to build a future in that field.
The objects brought to the home took on weight during the trial and sentencing. Prosecutors emphasized the stuffed animal and supplies Figueroa carried for a child he was about to meet, while the state also placed Mimms’ vest and firearm before jurors as evidence of his preparation. Hertel said Figueroa “arrived with love, excitement, and gifts for the son he was going to meet for the very first time,” while Mimms brought “a bulletproof vest and a loaded gun.” The contrast helped prosecutors argue that the shooting was not a defensive act but the end point of a prepared confrontation.
District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said at sentencing that Figueroa’s family endured an “unimaginable” loss on a day that should have been happy. “A young father was senselessly gunned down,” Treadaway said. Figueroa’s mother wrote in his obituary that she would miss his calls, his words of love and “everything in between.” His sister wrote that he was thrilled to be close to graduation and wanted to start a video game design company while building a life around his son. Those personal details stood beside the trial record as the court imposed punishment for the killing.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting, and the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Hertel handled the prosecution with assistance from Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Geoffrey Fogus. The court’s sentence leaves Mimms with the possibility of parole but adds a consecutive five-year term tied to the firearm count. The no-contact order limits any future communication with Figueroa’s family. The case now moves from trial and sentencing to any appellate or post-conviction filings that may follow in Georgia courts.
For Figueroa’s family, the case remains tied to the visit that never began. The court-approved parenting time was scheduled for Aug. 7, 2021, from noon to 2 p.m.; by the time deputies arrived around noon, Figueroa was dead outside the house.
Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.