A conviction was made more than two years after a Douglasville man was murdered in his home.
James Dewayne Shelton, 45, was convicted Monday for the 2017 murder of Manuel “Manny” Palmer and could receive life in prison without parole at his sentencing hearing next Monday, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
On April 28, 2017, a 911 caller requested deputies to check on the welfare of Palmer, “whose mobile home door had been left open and had not been shut for a couple hours,” the release said. This was out of the ordinary, according to the caller.
Deputies found Palmer “lying on his side with the claw end of a roofing hammer lodged in the side of his head,” authorities said. Authorities found no signs of struggle or any missing items.
Shelton, who was a friend of Palmer and the last person to call him, was the center of the investigation from the beginning, the release said.
Giving inconsistent alibis in multiple interviews, Shelton made a call from the Douglas County Jail saying he was in Palmer’s home prior to the attack, the release said. Video surveillance also places Shelton 900 feet from the scene prior to the attack, according to deputies.
“Although there is nothing we can do to bring Manny back, I hope that this verdict brings some closure and justice to his family and friends,” Deputy Chief Assistant Jeff Gore said in the release.
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