Parker v. State

RANDOLPH, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Fifteen-year-old Lester Lavon Parker Jr. was convicted in the Circuit Court of Copiah County, Mississippi, for the murder of his fifty-three-year-old grandfather, James Shelton. He was sentenced to serve the remainder of his “natural life” in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, Parker challenges his conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. In January 2002, James and Doris Shelton, Parker’s grandparents, became his guardians. Carl Roberts, a family friend of the Sheltons, testified that they had a “[g]ood”…