For Immediate Release:
September 5, 2025
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
William Califf (334) 604-3230
(Montgomery, Ala) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction of Sean Kevin Sutton, 54, of Athens, for murder. Sutton was convicted in the Limestone County Circuit Court on May 17, 2024.
The evidence at trial showed that on November 20, 2018, friends of Emma Sutton became concerned when they could not get in touch with her. Her son, Sean Kevin Sutton, told people that he had not seen his mother in several days. One of the victim’s friends later discovered her body in the kitchen of her apartment that she shared with her son. The victim was “slaughtered in blood.” Sutton was picked up by Athens police officers at a store near the crime scene. A police investigation revealed numerous instances of questionable and suspicious behavior by Sutton in the days preceding his mother’s murder. At the conclusion of a jury trial, Sutton was convicted of murder.
Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones’s office successfully prosecuted this case and obtained a guilty verdict. Sutton was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Sutton sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Sutton’s conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, August 15, 2025.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Beth Slate Poe for her successful work on this case and thanked District Attorney Brian Jones and his staff, for their valuable assistance in defending the murder conviction.
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