Less than a month after the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of convicted murderer Kristi Fulgham, an Oktibbeha County Circuit Court judge Tuesday gave the woman life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Fulgham appeared before Judge Lee Howard Tuesday to be sentenced once again on a charge of capital murder for the shooting death of her estranged husband, Joey Fulgham, on Mother”s Day weekend in 2003. Pursuant to the wishes of the victim”s family, the state chose only to pursue a sentence of life without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty. The state also introduced an affadavit to the defendant agreeing to forfeit all rights to pursue post-conviction remedies in return for the state declining to pursue the death penalty.
Kristi Fulgham initially was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death on Dec. 9, 2006 for the death of Joey Fulgham. Her half-brother, Tyler Edmonds, was 13 at the time of the shooting and initially confessed to the crime, then changed his story and claimed Kristi Fulgham did it and convinced him to take the blame for her.
Edmonds was convicted of murder in 2004 and spent several years behind bars before the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the conviction and granted Edmonds a new trial. He was acquitted by a jury in 2008 and remains free.
Kristi Fulgham, meanwhile, had sat on death row while her case was under appeal with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the woman”s conviction on Oct. 28, but ordered a new sentencing hearing, saying the court erred in 2006 by disallowing testimony of a social worker called during the sentencing phase of Fulgham”s trial.
Joey Fulgham died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Both Edmonds and Kristi Fulgham were charged with the man”s death after Edmonds told police he and his half-sister walked into Joey Fulgham”s bedroom while he slept and pulled the trigger. Edmonds told investigators he held a .22-caliber rifle while Kristi Fulgham put her arms around him and they both fired the fatal shot. Edmonds then recanted his story and his defense attorney, Jim Waide, said Edmonds was outside Joey Fulgham”s house at the time of the shooting and heard a “pop” come from inside. Kristi Fulgham then emerged from the house and the pair went to the Gulf Coast with Kristi Fulgham”s children and one of her multiple boyfriends, Waide said.
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