14 May 2018 :

Throughout a 5-day retrial, Derek Tyler Horton, once sentenced to death, was sentenced to life without parole. 25-year-old Derek Tyler Horton was convicted of capital murder for his role in the April 2010 death of Jeanette Romprey, 59. After 6 years on death row, Horton's original conviction was overturned (see 29/03/2016) because prosecutors improperly introduced into evidence "prior bad acts" he committed. It was 1 of a handful of local cases that have been overturned with assistance from the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). Though he strongly encouraged him not to, Judge Michael Youngpeter granted Horton's request to act as his own attorney last October. The defense argued that Horton had only just turned 18 at the time of the murder and was suffering from an extreme mental and emotional disturbance. After about 30 minutes in the jury room, seven jurors recommended sentencing Horton to life without the possibility of parole, which beat the 5 who wanted to sentence him to death for a 2nd time. Alabama judges are no longer allowed to overrule a jury's recommendation to enforce the death penalty, so it's likely that sentence will stand. A formal sentencing hearing for Horton will be held June 28 in Mobile.