Man Guilty in Deaths of Witness, 8, Mother
A man was convicted of conspiracy in the slaying of an 8-year-old murder witness and the boy’s mother. But the jury acquitted Adrian Peeler, 25, of murder and capital felony charges, which could have brought the death penalty. Peeler could get 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder.
Peeler was accused of fatally shooting Leroy “B.J.” Brown Jr. and his mother, Karen Clarke, in 1999 to keep the boy from testifying against Peeler’s drug-dealer brother, Russell. At the time, Russell Peeler was awaiting trial on charges of murdering Clarke’s boyfriend.
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