AG announces second conviction in murder case involving Chilton County man

Published 7:16 pm Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the retrial of Jimmy Lamar Killingsworth Jr. on Monday resulted in a second conviction of capital murder for a brutal attack on a Bibb County couple in December of 2004.

Troy Connell of Chilton County was previously convicted for capital murder and assault in the attack.

With his retrial set for yesterday, Killingsworth entered a guilty plea for capital murder, which was affirmed by a jury in Bibb County Circuit Court. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Killingsworth first was convicted in 2006, and the retrial was ordered by the Alabama Supreme Court due to an issue regarding a juror in the previous trial.

Killingsworth was convicted for a drive-by shooting into the couple’s vehicle, in which Steven C. Spears was fatally wounded and his wife, Monica Spears, was viciously beaten with a chain. The attack occurred on State Highway 139 on Dec. 10, 2004.