Carroll County father sentenced in twin babies hot car deaths after 2019 conviction overturned

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. - A Carroll County father has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the hot car deaths of his infant twins. 

Thirty-two-year-old Asa North pleaded guilty to second-degree child cruelty and second-degree murder for leaving his 15-month-old babies in the back seat of an SUV.

His initial conviction was overturned in 2019. 

Mother reacts to conviction of father in hot car death of twin babies

After years of waiting for justice, the twins’ mother, Breal Ellis, told FOX 5 North’s sentencing Monday means she and her family can finally begin to move forward.

"It’s been eight long years…and he never told the truth until this day," she said.

Breal Ellis speaks to FOX 5 about the conviction of Asa North, the father of her twin daughters found dead in August 2016. (FOX 5)

Tears of joy and pain could be seen streaming down Ellis’s cheeks as she described the moments her twin baby girls finally got their day in court.

"I got up and read a statement…and it was, it was hard," she said.

It was hard moments watching the father of her children face to face inside a Carroll County courtroom where a judge read his sentence allowed.

"I’m happy for today because I’m happy that he finally told the truth. I’m happy he did his guilty plea. I’m happy he’s gonna do his time because that’s what Ariel and Alaynah need," Ellis said.

Asa North was lead away in handcuffs after the death of his twin daughters found in a hot car on Aug. 4, 2016. (FOX 5)

Hot car death of twin babies in Carroll County

Ellis said she was visiting her sister in the hospital for a few hours when she got the call that changed her life.

"I know it was the hottest day of the year and their father got super drunk," the grieving mother recalled. "Sometimes I still cry myself to sleep."

North was charged, but his initial conviction was thrown out because prosecutors said he didn’t get a fair trial—citing his defense attorney’s handling of the case.

Asa North appears in court during a hearing in 2024. (Supplied)

Eight years later, Ellis said she feels a weight lifted knowing he will serve his time.

Though she’s grateful to be a mother again, this time to an 8-month-old baby boy, she said motherhood for her is bittersweet.

"When my son came, I wish he could’ve met them," she explained.

Ellis said she and her family got some closure at Monday’s sentencing, but there are still questions she and her family hope to have answered, like just how long the twins were in that hot car.