Vinnie Leroy Keaton has been sentenced to Life in Prison without the possibility of parole.
Following just over a half-hour of deliberation that two man ten woman jury returned their verdict of guilty on the charge of capital murder on Tuesday morning.
Keaton and the victim, 32 year old Melissa Leanne Hudgins’ – were co-workers at Gadsden State Cherokee in Centre – where they were contracted custodial workers employed by the Anniston-based cleaning company serving the facility.
Hudgins’ body was found around 9:00 on the morning of Wednesday, November 28th 2012 in a mechanical room located underneath the bleachers in the college athletic building.
Keaton was later tracked down in Tennessee after the victim’s car – which Keaton had been driving – broke down by the roadside. He was taken into custody in Cookeville, Tennessee on November 30th and eventually brought back to Alabama.
He was formally charged with the murder of Hudgins on December 3rd (2012) and indicted by a Cherokee County Grand Jury, in April of the following year (2013); he pled guilty to the capital murder charge on February 25th of this year (2015).
District Attorney Mike O’Dell presented closing arguments for the state Tuesday during the guilt or innocence trial, which is required by law when a guilty plea is entered in any capital murder case.
O’Dell outlined the pre-meditated manner in which Keaton carried out the crime, starting with sending a note to school with his son that morning, saying that he would be picking up the child early that day.
O’Dell then recounted in chilling detail the events that unfolded, including the attack on the victim, the murder itself and the hiding of the body in the mechanical room, which Keaton Locked behind him as he left.
Keaton also cleaned up and tossed evidence into a dumpster outside the arena
He then went to pick his son up at school, and headed toward Tennessee – unaware that he had left behind DNA at the crime scene – DNA which later cemented his involvement in the slaying.
A number of Melissa Ann Hudgins friends and family members were in the courtroom this (Tuesday) morning as the verdict was read and sentencing was handed down.
Afterwards we spoke with Tammy Berryhill, who had been serving as the representative of the family throughout the process, and she shared with us her thoughts, on the job done by local law enforcement and what the future holds for the family:
Perhaps Judge Jeremy Taylor summed up everything as well as anyone possibly could have when, in regard to the life sentence just handed down, he told Keaton “…I really don’t have the words…I’ll just say ‘You’re where you need to be’”.