Stanley Chatman
Stanley Brent Chatman (born c. 1988) is a convicted killer accused of three additional murders in the first half of 2013.
Chatman shot 17-year-old Derrick Jackson outside the McAlpine Recreation Center at 1115 Avenue F in Ensley on August 27, 2005. He was arrested in August and tried in Clyde Jones' court. He was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter after an hour of jury deliberation, and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with credit for time served. He was released in November 2012 after serving more than half of that sentence.
The following March, Chatman was arrested and charged with the murder of Derrick King in front of a house at 517 10th Court North. He allegedly killed King during an argument over a cell phone. He was arrested and charged, but released four days later on $75,000 bond.
In June of the same year, Chatman and two other men allegedly burst into a home at 736 Attalla Street in Wylam and began ransacking it while 17-year-old twin brothers Jeremi and Johnathan Berry played video games inside. Their mother, LaTasha, arrived home and saw the suspects on her front porch, beckoning her to come to the house. She panicked and attempted to drive away, but was wounded by one of several bullets fired into her Ford Explorer. One bullet severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed. Meanwhile the suspects re-entered the house and killed the two boys.
Chatman was arrested and charged with capital murder and held without bond while the other gunmen remained at large. Crystal Nelson, 21, is believed to have driven their getaway car. She was arrested and charged with felony murder, with bond set at $1 million.
References
- Stein, Kelsey (March 2, 2013) "Man charged with murder in Friday shooting has previous manslaughter conviction." The Birmingham News
- Robinson, Carol (July 3, 2013) "Aunt of slain Wylam twins on today's arrests: "I want to know what possesses somebody to do something like that." The Birmingham News