[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---ALA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 17


ALABAMA:

Shaw gets life without parole in 4 murders ----- Jury ratifies his guilty
plea


Derrol Shaw was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday after a
Jefferson County jury ratified his guilty plea in 4 capital murders he
committed in a 5-day span in 2006.

Shaw, 20, had no comment before Circuit Judge Alfred Bahakel sentenced him
under a plea agreement that spared the defendant from a potential death
sentence.

When a defendant pleads guilty to capital murder, Alabama law still
requires a jury to find him guilty.

Jurors, who deliberated less than an hour, were told to consider both the
guilty plea and evidence presented Tuesday and Wednesday.

Evidence showed that Shaw and Ryan Evans robbed and killed Walter Hill on
June 9, 2006. The 91-year-old church deacon was shot 4 times by 3 guns and
was left bound inside his burning house.

On June 13, 2006, Shaw shot Evans, 19, inside his grandparents' house in
College Hills because the teen had been bragging about the Hill murder,
testimony showed. Shaw then shot Evans' grandparents, John Martin, 82, and
Evelyn Martin, 81, to eliminate witnesses, a prosecutor said.

After the verdict, Shaw's lawyers, Emory Anthony Jr. and Eric Guster,
praised the victims' families for agreeing to spare Shaw.

"We're thrilled that Mr. Shaw won't lose his life," Anthony said. "That is
very important. But four people lost their lives. That can't be taken
lightly."

Olivia Williamson, Evelyn Martin's niece, said agreeing to the plea was
the Christian thing to do.

"We don't wish death on anyone," she said. "So we took the high road."

Williamson said Shaw's plea and the verdict brought closure to the family.
The bodies of the Martins and Evans were not found for six months because
they had been dumped in a remote area.

Prosecutors Joe Roberts and Mara Sirles declined comment.

Anthony and Guster said Shaw was remorseful, but he decided not to comment
before sentencing. Prosecutors want to talk to Shaw about the murders to
answer questions the victims' relatives still have, Guster said.

"We will try to do that to put the family at peace as much as he (Shaw)
can under this situation," Guster said. He declined to elaborate.

The murders ended a 5-month crime spree marked by escalating violence,
starting with carjackings February to May 2006.

In one of those robberies, Shaw took a .38-caliber Titan revolver, which
he had when he was arrested.

Shaw used the gun when he broke into a physician's apartment June 7, 2006,
and fired a shot that narrowly missed the resident.

2 days later, Hill was shot 4 times by 2 .38-caliber pistols, including
the Titan, Mitch Rector, a Birmingham police firearms examiner, testified
Wednesday. The gun appeared to have been used to shoot Evelyn Martin, but
damage to the bullet made an exact match impossible, Rector said.

The other .38-caliber pistol was used to shoot Evans and John Martin,
Rector testified. Prosecutors believe that gun was stolen from Hill's
house the night he was killed.

The day after the Martins were killed, Shaw gave a friend a .38-caliber
pistol, the friend, Edward Webb testified. Webb said he hid the gun and
eventually threw it away.

Shaw already has pleaded guilty to federal and state charges in the
carjackings and attempted murder. He received a 37-year sentence in the
federal case in April and life on the state charges in October.

Despite the predetermined outcome of this week's case and the impending
sentence of life without parole, a cousin of Shaw's wore a shirt to court
Tuesday that said "Free Derrol Shaw." A bailiff made him remove it.

(source: The Birmingham News)