MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Thursday afternoon that a criminal court jury returned a guilty verdict against a defendant indicted for a 2009 double homicide near downtown Memphis. 

The jury convicted Ronald Duckett, 54, on two counts of first degree murder.  Judge John Fowlkes immediately sentenced Duckett to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years.

According to testimony, shortly after midnight on June 6, 2009, Duckett shot and killed Tommy Pryor and Thomas Sample at a boarding house located at 309 North Manassas.  Memphis police found Pryor’s body inside a bedroom and located Sample’s body outside of the house.  The medical examiner ruled both victims died from gunshot wounds.

First degree murder is a charge covered by the D.A.’s “No Deals” policy on violent crimes. Exceptions to the policy are made only for legal or ethical reasons.

Assistant District Attorneys Theresa McCusker and Kirby May prosecuted this case.