An Alabama man convicted last month of killing three people was sentenced to death Monday morning.
Jimmy O’Neal Spencer was found guilty of seven counts of capital murder in the 2018 deaths of 65-year-old Martha Dell Reliford, 74-year-old Marie Kitchens Martin, and Martin’s great-grandson, 7-year-old Colton Ryan Lee. A jury had previously recommended the death penalty.
“If there ever was a reason for the death penalty to exist in this state, you’re it,” Judge Tim Riley told Spencer, according to WHNT.
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, Spencer 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 following eight convictions going back to 1984, including robbery, escape and assault. The murder charges following his parole led to reforms and changes in leadership at the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, with the rate of paroles granted dropping sharply.
Spencer heard victim impact statements in the Guntersville courtroom. Nellie Wray, Reliford’s sister, asking Riley to “put him where he belongs.”
“He belongs in hell,” she said. “He killed a baby and two innocent women.”
Spencer, speaking to the courtroom, said, “I am sorry about what happened. There’s now way I can change it. If I could I would.”
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