Jury deciding whether Jimmy O’Neal Spencer faces execution in triple murder
A north Alabama jury this morning is hearing testimony on whether to sentence a convicted murder to death or life imprisonment.
Jimmy O’Neal Spencer was found guilty Wednesday in Marshall County of seven counts of capital murder in the 2018 deaths of Martha Dell Reliford, 65, Marie Kitchens Martin, 74, and Martin’s great-grandson, Colton Ryan Lee, 7.
The jury reportedly deliberated for less than 30 minutes.
Sentencing in the case is set for Nov. 14, according to court documents.
According to WHNT, prosecutors this morning said they would offer seven aggravating circumstances – all tied to charges Spencer was convicted of on Wednesday. Defense attorneys argued that Spencer’s IQ was too low to be eligible for the death penalty.
Spencer was accused of killing the 74-year-old Guntersville woman and her seven-year-old great-grandson in a robbery that garnered $13. In a taped confession, he said he killed Reliford for about $600, and murdered the child to prevent leaving a witness.
At the time of the murders, the homeless convict was a violent offender just out of prison.