18 March 2018 :

Colbert County Circuit Court Judge Hal Hughston Jr. sentenced Benjamin Young, 30, White, to death. He was convicted last month of capital murder in the 2016 death of 19-year-old Ki-Jana Freeman over an Xbox. Young and four others allegedly lured the teen and a friend to a Tuscumbia apartment complex under the guise of either selling or buying an Xbox. Prosecutors said the suspects plotted to kill Freeman because they believed he stole an Xbox and television two days earlier. The teen was shot dead as he sat in his friend’s Mustang. On February 8, 2018 (see), a Colbert County jury also found Young guilty of assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle. They recommended the death penalty which was upheld by the judge. Young is the second suspect charged in the case to be sentenced. De’Vontae Bates received a 20-year prison sentence in exchange for testifying in Young’s case. Three others — Riley Hamm Jr., Peter Capote and Thomas Hubbard — are set to stand trial.