Sep. 19—TRINITY — A High Point man has been convicted of murder in what a prosecutor called the "revenge killing" of a Trinity man in 2020.

Micah Smith, 27, was convicted Monday in Randolph County Superior Court of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon in the June 21, 2020, death of John Butler, 28. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Campbell Bentson said that Smith and Butler had gotten into a fistfight two weeks earlier. Smith apparently had won the fight and turned to leave, and Butler grabbed a sharp object nearby and stabbed Smith in the chest.

Smith refused to cooperate with investigators after that, however, so Butler was not charged, Bentson said.

On June 21, someone shot at Butler, who was injured but refused medical treatment and also refused to cooperate with sheriff's deputies, officials said at the time.

Just after 5 p.m. on June 21, Smith shot Butler in the back in the middle of Rockford Drive in Trinity, then shot him in the head, Bentson said.