(MONTGOMERY)—Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that on Friday the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the convictions of Peter Capote for capital murder and first-degree assault. Capote, 26, of Muscle Shoals, was convicted in Colbert County Circuit Court in April 2018 for the murder of Ki-Jana Freeman. Capote was also convicted of first-degree assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The evidence at trial showed that on March 1, 2016, Capote, along with three other members of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters, lured Freeman and Tyler Blythe to the Spring Creek Apartments in Tuscumbia with the intention of murdering Freeman because of their belief that Freeman burglarized the clubhouse of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters and allegedly stole an X-Box. Shortly after Freeman and Blythe arrived at the apartment complex, Capote and another member of the gang exited their vehicle and fired numerous shots into Freeman’s Ford Mustang, causing Freeman’s death and seriously injuring Blythe.
The case was prosecuted at trial by the office of Colbert County District Attorney Bryce Graham Jr. The jury found Capote guilty of murder made capital because it was committed while Freeman was in a vehicle, and Capote was sentenced to death. Capote subsequently sought to have his conviction and sentence reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Capote’s convictions. The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, January 10. Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Christopher Reader for his successful work in this case.
The other shooter, Benjamin Young, also was tried, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His case is pending before the Court of Criminal Appeals.
