In 2019, an Alabama man pled guilty to capital murder after killing and shooting his girlfriend in front of their children.
Michael Deramus Walker, 40, was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty Thursday in Pike County Circuit court, according to local television station WSFA.
According to Action News, District Attorney James Tarbox submitted a guilty plea in exchange for the state dropping the death penalty in the case.
Court records claim Walker shot multiple times at his girlfriend, Melissa Lanny Pelton, on October 24, 2019.
The couple had five children together, all under the age of 14, who were all inside the house when the incident occurred.
“This outcome allows both for justice to be served and for the children who witnessed their mother being murdered from having to testify in open court about the terrible things they witnessed on the night of the murder,” Tarbox said in a statement to WSFA.