Monday, May 14, 2012

Charleston Man Sentenced

{Charleston, West Virginia}...Monday, 20 year old Brandon Levert Gray of Charleston was sentenced to life in prison with mercy for the first-degree murder of 29 year old Timothy Thompson which occurred last summer in a West Side neighborhood not far from the Patrick Street Bridge. Police say Gray lured Thompson there for a supposed drug deal and then shot him over a drug debt. Gray testified at his trial that he was on his way to meet Thompson at First and Stockton Streets when he heard shots ring out. He denied being the shooter. Defense attorneys questioned the role of local attorney William Foster who they said spent the day with Thompson prior to his murder and who dropped him off at the scene minutes before he was shot. Foster died of an apparent drug overdose just after Gray's first trial ended abruptly when a juror became ill. Gray will get credit for nearly a year spent in jail and will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years.