On July 23, 1998, in Long County, Georgia, 20 year old Billy Crowder was sentenced to life in prison as a result of the shooting death of his maternal grandfather, Thurman Martin. Six days later, on July 29th, 8 members of the trial’s 12 person jury petitioned the Superior Court to reduce the sentence handed down by Judge Robert L. Russell III. “We beg you to listen to our cry for justice.” The petition read. “You, the law, listened intently to our verdict. We are pleading with you now to listen to our petition.” The petition was an unprecedented attempt to bring finality to a disturbing trial.

Neither the prosecution nor the defense disputed the facts. On May 18, 1997, Billy Crowder, along with his stepfather, John Stanton, shot and killed Thurman Martin as he slept. Billy’s friend, Jason Jordan, was present during the shooting and aided in the subsequent cover-up. But the facts, though obvious, were merely a smokescreen. One that, had the prosecution had its way, would have hidden what is perhaps Long County’s darkest secret. A secret that Billy Crowder and his family kept hidden for years. A secret that would send a boy straight to prison, and his grandfather straight to hell.

In his own words, Billy writes…

“As a kid I got about anything that I ever wanted, spoiled you could say. As I grew older I became more aware of my Grandmother’s abuse, and as I got older it turned more on me. I guess about 11 or 12 I started really getting abused, and as I got older it got worse. I have seen my Grandmother hit, slapped, kicked so many times that you just lost count. He would be alright one moment, but then a ravin’ lunatic the next. If something didn’t go his way, he would pitch a fit, like a child. Someone else could make him mad, or if you didn’t get something done quite right, that would also send him into a fit.  As the years progressed, it just got more worse. Finally right there at the end, my Grandmother had just died, he had been alright til that day that I killed him. That afternoon, I don’t know what made it different than any other day, I mean this life was not new to me. But something that day happened, it just had to end.

It was all about a wax job on a car. Two types of polish was put on it, one came out shiny, other came out super shiny. Well that started it. He went into one of his preaching tirades, fighting mad. Actually Gene (Billy’s best friend) was over there, I told him to go home, and I would talk to him later. So I got slapped, punched and kicked, I never raised a hand at him. I had blood running down my nose, mouth onto my t-shirt. Then with one of his final punches he said, ‘You’ll never amount to anything like that bitch of a grandmother you had.’ That moment I told him me or him, one of us was going to hell tonight. That was May 18, 1997."

During the course of the trial, the jury heard firsthand accounts of what life was like living with Thurman Martin.  Billy and his sister, Katie, testified to the extreme physical, emotional and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of their grandfather.  The siblings also testified to the abuse they witnessed Martin impose on their grandmother, on one occasion hitting her so hard that her false teeth were knocked out. 

By the trial's end, it became devastatingly clear that Billy felt he had no other choice than to kill his tormenter in order to end the tyranny he and his family had been subjected to for so many years.  The jury found him not guilty of murder and, instead, convicted him of the lesser charge, voluntary manslaughter.  For this, Judge Russell would sentence Billy to 5 years in prison. 

But there was another decision the jury needed to make regarding the death of Thurman Martin.  During his confession to police, Billy told of how he attempted to make it look as though Martin had just walked out on the family. 

In his own words, Billy writes... 

"I went back into the room to clean it up to look like he had just left.  I found his pants in the corner and as we was disposing of them came across his wallet.  At that point, was the first time that money came to mind, when we found the wallet.  We needed to pay some bills and buy food so I looked inside it and took out about $600.00.  I took the money and paid bills, phone, light, gas and house payment." 

It was this admission that prompted the prosecution to charge Billy with armed robbery.  During deliberations, jurors admitted that they were confused as to why the charge even existed, or why a lesser charge was not offered.  However, they felt that, according to their interpretation of the definition of armed robbery by Georgia law, they had no choice but to find him guilty.  The sentence?  Life in prison. 

Billy was a first time offender.  He had a reputation in Ludowici as a very respectful, hard-working young man who kept himself out of trouble.  But, despite the jurors' petition and the public outcry generated by his decision, Judge Russell was not swayed.  Nine years later, the young man who was subjected to relentless physical, emotional and psychological abuse is still in prison.