Tex McIver, the former Atlanta labor lawyer who fatally shot his wife Diane in 2016, is back in Fulton County custody as of April 2026, awaiting a new trial on felony murder charges after prosecutors reopened the case. His current situation is the latest turn in a decade-long sequence: a 2018 murder conviction, a 2022 reversal by the Georgia Supreme Court, a 2024 guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter, parole in January 2025, and now a renewed prosecution on the original charges.
Back in Custody in 2026
By early 2026, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office moved to retry McIver on felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Prosecutors pursued the retrial even after McIver had completed the sentence tied to his one intact conviction, for influencing a witness, in March 2026.1CBS News. Tex McIver: Judge Denies Bond for Atlanta Man Who Shot Diane McIver in SUV
On April 2, 2026, Judge Robert McBurney denied a defense request for $220,000 bond. McIver, now 80, is being held pending trial on the murder charges.1CBS News. Tex McIver: Judge Denies Bond for Atlanta Man Who Shot Diane McIver in SUV
How the 2024 Plea Deal Worked
On January 26, 2024, McIver pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter. He admitted he had acted recklessly with the gun but maintained he did not intentionally shoot his wife. The court imposed a 15-year sentence structured as eight years in prison followed by seven years of probation, with the first five years of probation to be served on home confinement with an ankle monitor and a strict curfew. He received credit for the roughly six and a half years he had already served.2CNN. Tex McIver Georgia Wife Killing Plea
At the plea hearing, McIver told the court, “She died as a result of my actions, plain and simple.” Judge McBurney said the resolution “will allow the greatest number of people to move forward as best they can.” Chief Deputy District Attorney Adam Abbate said the deal “allows those who loved, cared, and admired Diane McIver to close this chapter.” Defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer said the plea “recognizes that Tex never intended to hurt Diane.”2CNN. Tex McIver Georgia Wife Killing Plea
The deal came after a stalled retrial effort. When jury selection began in late 2023, Judge McBurney ruled that the Supreme Court’s decision effectively barred the state from arguing McIver acted with intent to kill, and that evidence tied to that theory, including proceeds from Diane’s life insurance, had to be excluded. He halted proceedings and told prospective jurors, “For technical legal reasons, we’re not going to need you.”3Fox 5 Atlanta. Tex McIver Retrial Delays
Release From Prison in January 2025
McIver was paroled from Augusta State Medical Prison on January 9, 2025, after roughly seven years behind bars. His attorney, Don Samuel, said McIver planned to “move on and make the most of the rest of his life,” adding that “‘Nightmare’ doesn’t begin to capture what the past seven years have been like for him.”4The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tex McIver’s Release From Prison Ends Eight-Year Saga
His probation terms confined him to home for the first five years, monitored by an ankle bracelet and a curfew. He was prohibited from any contact with U.S. Enterprises, the company his wife had led; its founder Billy Corey; or Dani Jo Carter, the friend who had been driving the couple’s SUV the night of the shooting.5Fox 5 Atlanta. Former Atlanta Attorney Tex McIver Released From Prison
The 2016 Shooting
On the evening of September 25, 2016, Tex and Diane McIver were returning to Atlanta from their ranch near Eatonton, about 75 miles east of the city. Dani Jo Carter was driving the couple’s Ford Expedition. Diane sat in the front passenger seat; Tex sat directly behind her.1CBS News. Tex McIver: Judge Denies Bond for Atlanta Man Who Shot Diane McIver in SUV
Carter testified that as they drove through downtown Atlanta, Tex asked Diane to hand him his gun, which was in the center console in a plastic bag. Diane passed it back. While the car was stopped at a red light, Carter heard a loud boom. Diane turned and asked, “Tex, what did you do?” He answered, “The gun discharged.” Diane then said, “Tex, you shot me,” before losing consciousness. She died at the hospital that night.6CBS News. Key Witness Gives Account of Night Georgia Lawyer Fatally Shot His Wife
McIver told investigators the shooting was an accident. In an October 2016 interview, he said he had fallen asleep with the gun in his lap, was “suddenly awoken,” lurched, and the gun fired. Carter’s account contradicted his: she said the car was stopped at a light, not moving over a bump.6CBS News. Key Witness Gives Account of Night Georgia Lawyer Fatally Shot His Wife
The 2018 Conviction and 2022 Reversal
McIver was arrested in December 2016. After investigators found a gun in his sock drawer in violation of his bond conditions, a grand jury indicted him in April 2017 on seven counts, including felony murder.7Atlanta Magazine. Tex McIver
At the 25-day Fulton County trial, prosecutors argued financial motive: McIver had lost his equity partnership at Fisher & Phillips, was in debt, and stood to regain sole ownership of the couple’s ranch and access to Diane’s assets. They also pointed to his behavior after the shooting, including that he urged Carter at the hospital to say she had come as a friend rather than as the driver, and that he had canceled an appointment Diane made to update her will.8CBS News. Tex McIver Case: Was It an Accident or Cold-Blooded Murder6CBS News. Key Witness Gives Account of Night Georgia Lawyer Fatally Shot His Wife On April 23, 2018, a jury convicted him of felony murder, aggravated assault, firearm possession, and influencing a witness. The felony murder conviction carried a mandatory life sentence.9CBS News. Tex McIver: Did His Grief Expose His Guilt
On June 30, 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously overturned the felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm convictions and granted a new trial. Only the witness-influencing conviction remained intact. The court held that the trial judge should have instructed the jury on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Writing for the court, Chief Justice Michael Boggs called the state’s evidence of intent “weak” and “disputed and circumstantial,” and said a reasonable jury could have concluded the gun discharged because McIver was “startled awake, reflexively or involuntarily clutching at the bag holding the firearm, and inadvertently contacting the trigger.”10WJCL. Tex McIver Georgia Murder Trial Overturned11Courthouse News Service. New Trial Gets Underway for Former Atlanta Attorney Accused of Murdering His Wife
The Estate and Civil Aftermath
Diane McIver’s death set off separate disputes over her estate. U.S. Enterprises filed a claim asserting the estate owed $975,000 for a loan to a separate company she controlled called DRS Investments. In the months after her death, Tex McIver auctioned off some of her clothing and jewelry, raising about $40,000 that he said would go toward legal fees and educational costs for the couple’s children.12The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Feud Erupts Over Diane McIver Estate
The couple’s roughly 85-acre Putnam County ranch, which they had owned equally, was sold at auction on August 4, 2018, for $1 million plus a buyer’s fee. Whether McIver could claim any share of the proceeds remained legally uncertain under Georgia’s “slayer statute,” which generally prevents someone convicted of killing another person from inheriting from the victim’s estate.13Moultrie Observer. McIver Ranch Sold for $1 Million at Auction14The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Could Tex McIver Get Proceeds From Auction of Putnam County Ranch
A wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Diane’s estate against McIver and his insurers ended in a confidential settlement. The estate’s attorney, Robin Frazer Clark, said she had sought $10 million from McIver’s insurers.15Daily Report. Tex McIver’s Insurers Settle Wrongful Death Claim by Dead Wife’s Estate McIver, meanwhile, voluntarily suspended his Georgia law license shortly after the 2018 conviction.16Yahoo Finance. High Court Accepts Tex McIver Law License Suspension