Fayette County man who killed wife, burned body sentenced to life in prison
Kenneth Hardin Jr. mugshot, courtesy of the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. - A Georgia man accused of killing his wife and burning her body in their backyard will spend the rest of his life in prison, according to sheriff's deputies.
What we know:
Kenneth Hardin Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.
The backstory:
Deputies said Hardin killed his wife, Carrie Hardin, in August 2024, confessed it to his father, and then drove to Louisiana.
Hardin's father told the sheriff's office about the confession, and deputies began investigating.
Deputies said they found Carrie Hardin's body in a shallow grave at the couple's house. She had a gunshot wound to the head, according to investigators. Her remains were partially burned and buried under yard debris, the office said in a statement.
After a manhunt, Hardin was arrested in Louisiana and extradited back to Georgia.
Dig deeper:
On top of the life sentence, he was sentenced to a decade more in prison for concealing the death of another and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
The Source: This article includes information from the Fayette County Sheriff's Office provided in a press release in 2025, and a press release from 2024. It also includes information originally reported by FOX 5's Eric Mock from August 2024.