Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that on Friday the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the capital murder convictions of Justin MacNeill. MacNeill, 28, of Cleveland, Alabama, was convicted in Blount County Circuit Court in May 2018 for the murder of Myron Brian Beavers.

The evidence at trial showed that on or about July 7, 2015, MacNeill and another man, Clifton Ridgeway, made a plan to murder and rob Beavers. On July 8, MacNeill and Ridgeway entered Beavers’ residence and MacNeill killed him by striking him three times in the head with a hatchet.

MacNeill then placed Beavers’ body underneath a mattress in the bedroom. MacNeill and Ridgeway took Beavers’ truck, power tools, cash and debit card.  MacNeill and Ridgeway were in the victim’s truck when they were apprehended by police. After he was arrested, MacNeill admitted to police that he had killed Beavers and taken his property.

Because the murder was committed during the course of a robbery; and because it was committed in the course of a burglary, MacNeill was convicted of two capital offenses.   He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each conviction. Ridgeway is awaiting trial for two counts of capital murder.

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey’s office prosecuted this case and obtained a guilty verdict. MacNeill sought to have his convictions reversed on appeal.

The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division handled the cases during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the convictions.

The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, March 29.  Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Tommy Leverette for his successful work on this case.