Man convicted of killing 2 people at Shelby Co. pawn shop resentenced again to life without parole

SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - A Birmingham man who was sentenced to death as a teenager and then resentenced to life in prison without parole was sentenced Friday for a third time under the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller vs. Alabama.

The ruling states mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders which only left a life without parole sentencing.

Marcus Presley, 44, was convicted of killing John Burleson and Janice Littleton in 1996 at John’s 280 Pawn shop in Shelby County.

The original prosecutor on the case back in 1996 Randy Hillman said, “They had shopped in that store for almost 14 minutes and that’s an eternity in a robbery and then and only then on their way out the door did the defendant execute two people.”

Presley was 16-years-old at the time of the murder and originally sentenced to death.

After serving 8 years on death row, in 2005 Miller vs. Alabama happened, and he was resentenced to life without parole.

Fast forward to 2012 and the Supreme Court ruled any mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders could be reconsidered for life with the possibility of parole by a judge.

Several years later in September of 2024, Shelby County Judge John Spann after hearing from the state, Presley’s defense and the victims’ family, resentenced Presley again to life without parole.

The Shelby County DA working with Hillman, Brooke Grigsby said, “In the 27 years he had been incarcerated there was no positive change to him. It was important to show that he had not done anything to really get to a point where he deserved that.”

When Hillman was asked to return to the case all these years later he said, “You know prosecutors do what they do, not for the money they do it because they are doing the right thing everyday and they get to just give a little measure of justice back to the people that they serve.”

The Burleson family said, they feel relieved. “We appreciate that and it’s more than just a job to them, they really care about the people they are here to protect and that means a lot to us... it was more than a case, it was personal.”

Tina Burleson wife of the victim said, “ I remember when it first happened and I said to my children, I said I’ll die and nothing will ever happen. I’ll never see true justice, but today I felt like I saw as much justice as is going to be possible under our judicial system. “

The Burleson’s said they hope that other families who have experienced this can get the same outcome as they did Friday.

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