The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the murder conviction of Jimmy Earl Little. The 31-year-old Greenville man was convicted in Butler County Circuit Court in June 2018 for the murder of Martin Wilson.
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the decision Friday.
According to Marshall’s offuce, the evidence presented at trial established that Little murdered Wilson on the afternoon of August 26, 2015. Wilson was visiting with a group of friends at a house on South Street in Greenville. Little walked into the backyard and confronted Wilson about money that Little said he owed. According to prosecutors, Little shot Wilson in the head and fled the scene. Wilson sustained wounds to his brain and right eye, later died as a result of his injuries. Little was arrested and taken to the Greenville jail. While there, Little was involved in an altercation with law enforcement during which he told Officer Jamie Manning that “if I ever get on the street, I will shoot you in the face like I did ol’ boy.”
Butler County District Attorney Charlotte Tesmer prosecuted the case in circuit court. Little was sentenced, as a habitual offender, to life imprisonment for the murder conviction, which he appealed.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division represented the State during Little’s appeal, urging that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reject Little’s arguments and affirm the conviction. On January 4, that court affirmed Little’s conviction.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Tommy Leverette of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division for his successful work in the case.
Little could still appeal his conviction to the Alabama Supreme Court.
