A man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of killing a Douglasville man with a roofing hammer more than two years ago.
James Dewayne Shelton, 45, was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole a week after he was convicted for the 2017 murder of Manuel “Manny” Palmer, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said in an email.
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On April 28, 2017, a 911 caller requested deputies check on Palmer, whose mobile home door had been left open for several hours, a news release said. This was out of the ordinary, according to the caller.
When deputies arrived, they 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 in the home.
Shelton, a friend of Palmer and the last person to call him, was the focal point of the investigation from the beginning, the release said.
After offering inconsistent alibis in multiple interviews with police and saying he had not seen Palmer on the night of the attack, 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 put 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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