Court of Criminal Appeals Upholds Shelby County Murder Conviction

From the Jefferson County Journal staff reports

MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the murder conviction of Latasha Nichole Smith. Smith, 35 year-old female from Columbiana, was convicted in Shelby County Circuit Court in April 2018 for the murder of Keith Fulgham.

Evidence at trial established that on the evening of June 6, 2016, Smith was at a party with a number of acquaintances, including the victim, Fulgham. She became agitated with Fulgham because he had allegedly remarked to others that he was going to do something about her owing him $15. A woman at the party tried to diffuse the situation by driving Smith home, but Smith later returned to the party armed with a knife and stabbed Fulgham, who died as a result of multiple stab wounds.

Shelby County District Attorney Jill Lee’s office prosecuted the case in circuit court. Smith was sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment for the murder conviction, which she appealed.

The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division represented the State during Smith’s appeal, urging the Court of Criminal Appeals to reject Smith’s arguments and to affirm the conviction. On Friday that court affirmed Smith’s convictions.

Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Kristi Wilkerson of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division for her successful work in this case.