Carter v. State

First degree murder; sentence: life imprisonment.

Around 11:30 P.M. on October 11, 1974, the appellant requested that Robert James Ford, the victim, repay approximately four dollars which Ford owed him. Ford laughed and refused to do so. The appellant then went and got his grandfather's shotgun and shot at Ford twice. He missed the first time, but the second shot hit Ford in the head, killing him. The appellant then took thirty-five cents from Ford's pocket and ran to a neighbor, Mrs. Bessie Mae Smith, and told her, "Robert was shot."

Officer J.V. Sells, who investigated the murder and arrested…