Marbury man pleads guilty to murder in 2013 deadly shooting
Published 4:39 pm Wednesday, July 30, 2014
A 63-year-old Marbury man pleaded guilty Monday to murder in a 2013 deadly shooting in the Lily Hill community.
Lum Abner Gill, who lists an address in Marbury, pleaded guilty to murder for the death of Calvin Ann Sartain, 52, of Clanton.
Gill appeared in court Monday before Chilton County Circuit Judge Ben A. Fuller.
He has remained free on bond, and was dressed in civilian clothes as he approached the bench for his plea.
Fuller asked Gill what he did to cause the guilty plea with Gill responding that he shot Sartain, causing her death.
The shooting happened in June 2013 at Gill’s residence in Lily Hill after two Chilton County Sheriff’s deputies had responded to a disturbance call earlier that afternoon.
Authorities at the time of the incident said Gill and Sartain were dating and got into a fight earlier that morning at Sartain’s home in Clanton.
The fight escalated at Gill’s home in the Lily Hill community in Verbena.
Deputies arrived on the scene to serve as peacemakers between the couple.
After working to calm both parties down, deputies allowed Sartain to go back inside the residence.
Authorities said at the time of the incident, the deputies did not perceive the situation to be dangerous, and when Gill asked to go inside to retrieve his cigarette lighter, no one thought it would be a problem.
Once inside, with one deputy standing in the exterior doorway of the home, Gill retrieved a shotgun from behind a door and shot and killed Sartain.
Gill was taken into custody June 9, 2013, and taken to the Chilton County Jail, where he was later released on a $150,000 bond.
Gill was indicted in 2013 on two charges including murder and domestic violence in the first degree.
As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the domestic violence in the first degree charge.
Fuller set Gill’s sentencing date for Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. at the Chilton County Courthouse.