Murder victim's family forced to wait even longer for trial

from Buffalo River Review,

Linden

Margie and Jerry Barber of Linden have been waiting more than forty-eight months for the man who confessed to killing their son, Jerrel, to stand trial.

Now, they will have to wait even longer.

The trial for Jimmy Kevin Medlin, charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Jerrel Barber on October 14, 2018, was set for November 21-23 in Decatur County—but now has been put off until February 27 through March 3, 2023, the new “tentative” dates according to a letter to the Barbers from 24th Judicial District Attorney General Neil Thompson’s office.

The letter, dated November 4, 2022, says attempts were made to contact the victim’s family by phone, but Jerry Barber told the Review that he did not receive any calls.

The letter signed by Assistant DA Shelly Morris does not offer any reason why the trial was postponed.

Frustration for the Barbers has mounted in the more than four years since their 57-year-old son was killed, not only because of the delay in setting the first trial date but because Medlin has been free on bail for more than half that time.

In September 2020, Judge C. Creed McGinley—in an unexpected move that left Decatur County law enforcement and prosecutors dumbfounded—set a $25,000 bond for Medlin who had been incarcerated without bond since the day of the shooting.

Judge McGinley, who retired shortly after these bond reductions, also allowed another accused killer to leave jail by dropping his bond from $250,000 to $25,000.

In addition, the Barbers were expecting a quicker trial date. Mr. Barber told the Review that Judge McGinley said at the preliminary in 2018 that this trial was not “going to drag out” like the Holly Bobo murder case—another proceeding Judge McGinley presided over.

Mr. Barber is also concerned that the first degree murder charge might be amended because of testimony Judge McGinley struck from the record at the preliminary hearing in December 2018.

Mr. Barber said one witness recalled a conversation with Medin in which the accused said he was going to Beech Bend Park & Campground to kill some people.

After Medlin left Perryville Marina, where the conversation took place, the witness contacted law enforcement, but before officers arrived at the campground, the murder had already occurred.

During the general sessions court hearing in 2018, witnesses testified that Medlin fired the fatal shots without provocation. Also at that hearing, officers testified that Barber was struck with six bullets, five to the center of his body and one in his arm.

Decatur County Sheriff’s Investigator Stephen Whitlock, who responded to the scene of the shooting, testified that he found Medlin pacing back and forth, and that he appeared to be very intoxicated.

Investigator Whitlock arrested Medlin, and confiscated a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun from Medlin’s camper, along with marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a rifle, and ammunition.

The investigator interviewed Medlin the following day—when he confessed to the shooting—because the accused was too intoxicated to answer questions the day of the shooting, Whitlock said in court.

Following that preliminary hearing, Medlin was bound over to the grand jury on first degree murder and drug possession charges, and incarcerated until Judge McGinley approved his $25,000 bond less than two years later.

Following Judge McGinley’s retirement, Governor Bill Lee appointed Brent Bradbury, an assistant public defender from the 27th Judicial District, to fill the vacancy.

At the time of Medlin’s bond reduction and release from jail, former DA Matt Stowe said he was “shocked and dismayed at the actions of the court” and that “Judge McGinley allowed persons charged with violent crimes, such as murder and robbery, to be released back into our communities.”

However, in August of this year, Stowe lost his re-election bid to new District Attorney General Thompson.