By Gary Lloyd
A Jefferson County judge Friday morning ruled that a 20-year-old Center Point man would be denied youthful offender status in the 2012 murder of a man in Pinson.
Circuit Judge Tommy Nail denied a motion for youthful offender status for Demarquis Brown, of Center Point, who is charged with capital murder in the April 16, 2012, shooting of Matthew Joshua Hale, 28.
Brown will be tried as an adult at his trial, scheduled for April 14, 2014.
Brown was charged with capital murder in April, a year after Hale was found in the early morning hours of April 16, 2012, near the edge of the road in the 4200 block of Sharon Church Road, just north of Pinson.
Sheriff’s investigators followed up on several leads, but the case went cold. In March, new evidence was developed, leading detectives to a suspect, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian said earlier this year.
Brown was already in Jefferson County Jail on charges of trafficking marijuana, possession of a controlled substance, carrying a pistol without a license and failure to appear on a charge of second-degree theft of property. He has no bond.
Christian said last year that the shooting did not appear to be related to a robbery. The victim had no identification but did have money on him, Christian said at the time. Christian also said last year it happened in an area in which there have been drug problems.
“It will not surprise anyone that this can be tracked back to the drug trade,” Christian said last year. “Even so, this was cold-blooded murder and the person charged is responsible for this young man’s death. Our detectives never gave up and finally got the needed break that allowed justice to prevail.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.