Terrell French
BESSEMER, Alabama -- A Jefferson County jury today handed down two capital murder convictions against the first of four suspects to stand trial in the 2009 Bessemer shooting death of 22-year-old Terrory Murphy, according to the chief deputy prosecutor in the Bessemer Division district attorney's office.
Sentencing of Terrell French, 27, of Bessemer will begin Monday at 10 a.m. in Judge David Hobdy's court, said Chief Deputy D.A. Bill Veitch. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
One of the two convictions was given because Murphy was killed during a robbery and the other because he was shot while inside a car.
Murphy is the brother of former University of Alabama football player Kerry Murphy.
Murphy was found dead from a single gunshot wound in the 1200 block of Clarendon Avenue on Aug. 9, 2009.
French was released from state prison in January 2007. He had pleaded guilty to robbing a woman at gunpoint in east Birmingham in 2002, according to court and prison records.
On probation for 15 years from that conviction, a warrant was issued for French's arrest the day before Murphy's death after French failed to make a court appearance.
Efforts to reach French's attorneys, Ken Foster and Tammy McCabe, after normal business hours tonight were not immediately successful.
Three other suspects in the case --- Meoshia Daniel, 28; Joe Reid, 30; and Monica Sims, 29 -- have yet to go to trial. Veitch said Daniel testified against French in this week's trial. Reid is the next to go on trial with his case set to start in April, Veitch said.
Murphy's mother, Rosetta Murphy, said she believes French deserves the death penalty but will be OK with a sentence of life without parole because it would mean "he's not out there hurting anyone else."
"I'm so pleased with the outcome. It was such a long time coming. We've been waiting for this for over two and a half years," she said.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/03/...tion_hand.html
Bookmarks