Two murder trials scheduled to start today

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July 9, 2012

Two murder trials scheduled to start today

By BRAD KELLAR CNHI The Herald-Banner Mon Jul 09, 2012, 10:37 AM CDT

GREENVILLE — The Hunt County Courthouse could be a busy place this week, with two murder trials scheduled to begin simultaneously.

Jury selection in the trial of Antonio Derrance Fletcher is set Monday in the 354th District Court, while jury selection is scheduled Monday for Tyrone Leorone McCurdy in the 196th District Court.

Fletcher, 26, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, in connection with the shooting death in Greenville last summer of Javon Newman.

Fletcher and Devin Eugene Royal, both of Greenville were taken into custody on the evening of July 4, 2011 in Dallas. Royal convicted of Newman’s murder last month and sentenced to life in prison.

Officers responded to a call of shots being fired at a local apartment complex early on the morning of July 2, 2011 and found that Newman had been shot multiple times. Newman was transported to Hunt Regional Medical Center, and then transferred to Parkland Hospital in Dallas where he died. Individuals who witnessed the shooting identified Fletcher and Royal as suspects in the offense.

Fletcher pleaded guilty in December 2004 to a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division. Fletcher was indicted on the charge in November 2003 and was alleged in the indictment to have beaten a male victim with PVC pipe and bricks while in the course of stealing money on July 5, 2003.

McCurdy, 31, and Bernard Dale Kelly Jr. both of Greenville, have each pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in connection with the February 2011 shooting death of Treybbian Leekey Nelson of Greenville.

Kelly currently has trial scheduled in August on the charge.

McCurdy was taken into custody by officers of the Greenville Police Department and the United States Marshals Service in the 1200 block of Interstate 30 in Greenville late on the night of March 2, 2011. Kelly was taken into custody in the days following Nelson’s death.

Officers with the Greenville Police Department responded to a call of shots fired in the 1000 block of Edgar Street on the afternoon of February 8, 2011 where they found Nelson had been shot. Nelson was transported by air ambulance to Parkland Hospital where he underwent surgery and later died as the result of his injuries.

The indictments allege McCurdy, Kelly and an unnamed juvenile “knowingly and intentionally” caused Nelson’s death by shooting him with a firearm, or in the alternative, caused Nelson’s death by shooting him or in his direction while having the intent to commit aggravated assault.

Murder is a first degree felony, punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from five to 99 years to life in prison.