Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Tuesday that a jury had found a second defendant guilty as indicted for the murder of a well-known neighborhood grocery store owner in 2005.
Frank Taylor, 20, has been convicted for first degree murder in the perpetration of a felony and attempted especially aggravated robbery. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years. Brooks faces up to 12 additional years when he is sentenced on June 27 for the attempted robbery.
Albert Lee Covington, 53, known to those in the neighborhood as “Uncle Sonny,” was shot and killed during an attempted robbery on January 17, 2005 at the Little Star Grocery located at 547 Vance.
Co-defendant Markese Brooks, 20, was found guilty last July on the same charges and is also serving a life sentence. A third co-defendant, Clarence Abernathy, 20, awaits trial. All three defendants were 17 years old at the time of the incident. At the request of the D.A.’s Office, they were transferred to Criminal Court to be prosecuted as adults.
It is the policy of the District Attorney’s Office to request that juveniles who are 16 or 17 years old be transferred to Criminal Court if they are charged with committing a violent crime.
The charge of first degree murder is covered under the D.A.’s “No Deals” policy on violent crimes. Exceptions are made to the policy for legal and ethical reasons.
Assistant District Attorneys David Pritchard and Dean DeCandia prosecuted this case. |