LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office announced Friday that a murder conviction for an Athens man has been upheld.
Marshall’s office said the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction of Sean Kevin Sutton. Sutton was convicted of murdering his mother in Limestone County 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 on November 21, 2018. Emma Sutton was “slaughtered in blood,” Marshall’s office said.
In 2018, the then Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson told News 19 it appeared Emma Sutton was physically assaulted.
Sean Kevin 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.
At the time of the murder, News 19 learned Sean Kevin Sutton served time previously in the late 90s, for an attempted murder in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Corrections website notes he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1997. However, Sutton has no criminal history in Alabama.
Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones’s office prosecuted the case and obtained a guilty verdict. Sean Kevin Sutton was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sean Kevin Sutton sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.
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