After over two weeks of trial, a St Mary man has been found guilty of shooting to death a construction worker at a party in Retreat, St Mary three years ago.
The man convicted is Alton Barnett.
Barnett, who sports a spider tattoo on his face, heard the guilty verdict delivered by the seven-member jury on Tuesday afternoon, July 18 in the St Mary Circuit Court.
Barnett was charged in connection with the shooting death of 34-year-old Courtney Ellis, a painter/construction worker and part-time sound DJ, of Retreat, St Mary.
The verdict is one of irony as in July of 2016, the matter was then ready to proceed for trial, but Barnett at that time had pleaded guilty to the murder of Ellis. However, on the date of his scheduled sentencing, he retracted his plea of guilty.
Fast forward a year later, he has been convicted of murder in a trial that dominated the circuit court leaving other trials delayed.
The hearing of evidence in the murder matter was held in-camera. This meant that members of the public and the media were not permitted to listen to the case’s proceedings.
In the meantime, Barnett is to be sentenced on Thursday, July 27 in the Home Circuit Court by Justice Dale Palmer, who presided over the trial.
In a story reported by the North Coast Times three years ago, Courtney Ellis was shot dead at point blank range at a party in Retreat, St Mary on Sunday morning, February 24, 2013.
Reports are that at about 1:30 a.m., Ellis was at a ‘Friends and Family’ party, when a man walked up to him and shot him several times.
Ellis allegedly was shot five times in the chest and died on the spot.
Family members at that time had speculated that the killing of Ellis was premeditated, and stemmed from an ongoing feud which allegedly started in 2012. Family members had also said at that time in 2013, that the fatal attack was the third attempt on the 34-year-old construction worker’s life.
Barnett was arrested and charged months later with Ellis’ killing.
