TIFTON — A Tift County jury convicted Carol Sue Hornbuckle of murder Thursday afternoon and sentenced her to life in prison. 

Hornbuckle was convicted of killing her boyfriend, Charles Keith Raburn, 41, by stabbing him to death in August 2007.

Deputies responding to a 3 a.m. domestic call at a mobile home at 343 U.S. Highway 125 South found Raburn unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the scene by then-Coroner Mike Beaumont.

An incident report filed by the first deputy to arrive said that Hornbuckle met him at the door and told him “He (Raburn) is in there on the floor laying in a pool of blood.” The report also stated that children were present when Raburn was stabbed. Hornbuckle was charged with one count of murder by the Tift County Sheriff’s Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation later the same morning.

Tifton Gazette archives indicate that both Raburn and Hornbuckle had been arrested on various counts in the past. Raburn had been arrested several times since 2005 for simple battery and disorderly conduct. Hornbuckle was arrested earlier in August 2007 and charged with battery. Whether individual incidents involved both of them was not confirmed at the time.