Cathey’s request for new trial denied

Published 2:20 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2014

By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A 24-year-old Birmingham man will not get a retrial in his murder case, a Shelby County Circuit Court judge ruled on May 6.

Cathey

Cathey

During a brief May 6 hearing, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves denied Daveon Lamarnce Cathey’s request for a new trial, which was filed by Cathey’s attorney, Richard Vickers.

On March 13, Reeves sentenced Cathey to 99 years in prison for shooting and killing Alabaster resident Jonathan Williams at Williams’ house in Alabaster in September 2011. A jury found Cathey guilty of one count of murder in October 2013.

Five days after Cathey was sentenced, Cathey’s attorney, Richard Vickers, filed a motion requesting a new trial in the case, claiming “the verdict was contrary to law and/or contrary to the weight of the evidence.”

Vickers’ motion also claimed Cathey “did not receive a fair an impartial trial due to ineffective assistance of counsel.”

“Therefore, the conviction and sentence imposed herein should be set aside, held for naught, and a new trial held,” read Vickers’ motion.

The jury convicted Cathey for shooting and killing Williams in September 2011 while Williams was exiting his vehicle at his residence in the 100 block of 11th Avenue Southeast in Alabaster. Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney previously said the shooting happened during a robbery.

After Williams was shot, he was transported to UAB Hospital, where he later died.

Alabaster police officers worked with members of the U.S. Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force to bring 24-year-old Cathey into custody at about 12:50 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2011, in the 13000 block of Highway 25 in Calera.

Before sentencing Cathey, Reeves said Cathey killed Williams to “gain an advantage in illegally selling drugs,” and said Cathey has “shown no expressions of remorse.”

During his March sentencing hearing, Cathey claimed he was innocent in the crime.