Murder suspect facing life sentence
Published 9:49 am Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Shelby County prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life without the possibility of parole against a Birmingham woman charged with killing two people in North Shelby.
Tia Shuntraneke Davis, 29, of Pike Road in Birmingham is standing trial today in the Shelby County Circuit Court on one count of capital murder.
Even though Davis pleaded guilty to the crimes before her trial began, Alabama law requires a jury trial for all capital offenses, said Shelby County Chief Assistant District Attorney Bill Bostick.
Davis is charged with killing 26-year-old North Shelby resident Michael Adrian Edwards and 28-year-old Shelbyville, Ky., resident Ulesha Renee Stoner at Edwards’ residence on Hunt Cliff Road off U.S. 280 in North Shelby in 2006.
“(The) defendant has entered a guilty plea to capital murder, but a jury trial is still required,” Bostick said. “We are seeking a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.”
Authorities said Davis killed the two victims with a handgun and left a “particularly brutal murder scene.” Davis had known Edwards for more than a decade before the shooting, according to Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry.
Although Shelby County prosecutors originally sought the death penalty against Davis, they agreed to seek life without the possibility of parole in exchange for Davis’ guilty plea.
The trial should conclude by April 21, Bostick said.