A bond hearing arrest for Jamal Casseem Harper, for capital murder, was held at the Coffee County Courthouse in Elba in front of Judge Josh Wilson on April 27.
Harper was held on two $30,000 bonds for the two theft charges after his arrest, but Assistant District Attorney Russ Goodman requested that bond be denied for the capital murder charge. Wilson denied Harper bond for that charge.
Wilson did, however, grant Harper’s request for a state-appointed attorney and appointed attorneys Gary Bradshaw and Josh Pipkin as his defense lawyers.
Harper requested a preliminary hearing, or probable cause hearing, and Wilson set the date for that hearing tentatively for June 15 at 9 a.m.
On April 24, the Enterprise Police Department responded to the Econo Lodge at 630 Glover Avenue at 9:05 a.m. on a call for a welfare check on an individual in a hotel room.
Responding officers discovered a deceased individual with a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was identified as Lawrence Davis Jr.,47, and EPD detectives believed the suspect drove away on the victim’s vehicle, which is a white 2003 Ford Mustang with a black bra on the front and Virginia license plate VVV5483.
After requesting the community’s helping in locating the suspect, EPD arrested Harper, 21, of Enterprise at 3:30 p.m. on April 24 and charged him with Capital Murder and two counts of theft of property in the first degree.
After his arrest Harper was transported to the Coffee County Jail. According to court documents, Harper allegedly shot Davis “in the course of committing a theft of (a) 2003 Ford Mustang and five pairs of sneakers.”
Capital Murder can be charged when someone murders a law enforcement officer or murders someone while committing another serious felony. Capital murder is the most serious category of felony and is punishable by death.
Harper was also charged with two counts of theft, which included the alleged theft of the vehicle itself and the theft of a semi-automatic pistol with a 30-round clip. The gun was allegedly stolen from someone other than Davis.
Harper also has another theft of property, second degree, case from 2017 that is pending.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.