Alabama man convicted of Walnut Hill murder, dumping bodies in creek, gets life in prison

An Alabama man who killed one Escambia County man, thought he killed another and dumped their bodies in an Atmore creek has been sentenced to serve life in prison.

Circuit Judge Coleman Robinson sentenced Christopher Alan Stacey to life in Florida's Department of Corrections on Monday after a jury convicted him of the second-degree murder of Dalton Davis and attempted second-degree murder of Troy Boutwell in 2018.

"The charges stem from an incident on June 3, 2018, at a residence in Walnut Hill where Christopher Stacey shot Troy Boutwell and Dalton Davis. Mr. Davis died from his injuries," a release from the Office of the State Attorney said. "Stacey and his codefendants loaded them both up in the back of Boutwell's truck and drove them into a creek in Atmore, Alabama."

On June 2, 2018, Davis and Boutwell arrived at the 5400 block of Highway 164 in Walnut Hill, the home of Stacey's ex-wife Jessica Thomas and Stacey's son, Christopher James Logan Stacey, known as Logan Stacey. Boutwell and Davis reportedly began using methamphetamine with Thomas and Alexis Shiffner Cain, Logan Stacey's girlfriend.

"A short time later, Christopher Stacey and his son Logan come out of the bedroom, (and) they're both armed," Assistant State Attorney Trey Myers told the jury back in September. "Christopher Stacey shoots them both (Boutwell and Davis) as they get up off the couch."

After Logan and Christopher Stacey drove the truck into the creek, a motorist spotted the truck partially submerged in the creek and found Davis deceased in the truck bed and Boutwell trying to flag down the motorist from the roadside.

When law enforcement officers arrived to the Walnut Hill home, they discovered a couch engulfed in flames in the backyard — the same couch Boutwell and Davis were sitting on before the shooting. Deputies quickly extinguished the fire to preserve evidence and took Thomas, the Staceys and Shiffner Cain into custody.

Jury decides fate: Escambia jury convicts Alabama man of murdering one, shooting another, dumping them in creek

Christopher Stacey's family, who are all charged as an accessory after the fact, all have court dates on Dec. 14.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Alabama man Christopher Stacey sentenced to life Dalton Davis murder