Sept. 12 – Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the mother of convicted killer Frederic Rogers shared their reactions Wednesday after a Morgan County jury sentenced Rogers to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The jury did their job,” said lead defense attorney J. Brent Burney. “There was really no right or wrong answer. You have families of victims from that house who are hurting and are still hurting. So it’s just tough. There’s no high-five.”
Rogers, 26, shot and killed four people at a Talucah Road drug house on June 4, 2020, while his alleged accomplice, John Legg, 23, is accused of killing three others. The seven people killed were Jeramy Roberts, 31, of Athens; James Wayne Benford, 22, of Decatur; William Zane Hodgin, 18, of Somerville; Roger Lee Jones Jr., 20, of Decatur; and Tammy England Muzzey, 45; Emily Brooke Payne, 21; and Dakota Green, 17, all of Valhermoso Springs.
A date for Legg’s trial has not yet been set.
Rogers’ case was heard by Presiding Circuit Judge Stephen Brown. In addition to Burney, Rogers was represented by Carl Cole and Christy Miller. Chief Assistant District Attorney Garrick Vickery and Assistant District Attorney Courtney Schellack prosecuted the case.
At the start of the trial, which began last month, Rogers’ attorneys admitted he would be found guilty. He had twice confessed to the murders since his arrest, and Cole told the jury during opening statements that Rogers “will die in prison.” The jury found Rogers guilty of first-degree murder on Aug. 28.
The defense team’s strategy was to save Rogers from the death penalty. During the penalty phase, which lasted more than a week, they attempted to paint a picture of Rogers’ entire life, including a troubled childhood, mental illness and substance abuse.
The Public Prosecution Service proved two aggravating circumstances during the guilt phase: murder during a burglary and murder of two or more people. In the sentencing phase, the Public Prosecution Service tried to prove a third aggravating circumstance: that the murders were particularly heinous, horrible or cruel compared to other death penalty cases.
The jury began deliberating Rogers’ sentence Tuesday afternoon and returned a verdict Wednesday morning. They unanimously found the state had proven the third aggravating circumstance. Ten of the 12 jurors voted to sentence Rogers to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As Brown read the sentence, Rogers’ mother, Tasha Thompson, let out an audible sigh of relief. Across the courtroom, across the gallery, the victims’ families and friends made no sound.
Miller appeared emotional after the sentence was read. Rogers took three tissues from a box on the defense table and handed them to her.
Brown sentenced Rogers in accordance with the jury’s findings. Rogers remains in the Morgan County Jail without bail until he is transferred to the Alabama State Penitentiary.
As people slowly filed out of the courtroom, a woman sitting in the gallery near the prosecutor told Rogers, “Enjoy your life in prison.”
Thompson heard the comment, jumped up from her seat and followed the woman, who had left the courtroom. Thompson paused at the entrance to the courtroom, peered out for a few moments, and then returned to her seat.
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“My condolences and my heart goes out to those families, and I wish this never happened,” Thompson said later in court. “And I know my son wishes he could take it back, but he can’t.”
Thompson called Rogers “a wonderful kid,” said it was a “bittersweet” day and regretted that she would never be able to celebrate another birthday or holiday with her son.
“I wasn’t always there,” she said. “You know, I was a teenage mom. I was 17 when I had him. The separation anxiety that he felt from me — I wasn’t aware of it until all this happened. I do blame myself for how his life turned out, you know, because I was a single mom with boyfriends here and there until I met my husband.”
Thompson said she felt Rogers got involved with the wrong people and that “things went wrong for him.” Since the killings, she said, he has “given his life to Christ.”
Vickery, accompanied by Schellack, also spoke in court. He said his reaction was difficult to process so soon after the sentencing.
“I think the jury did their job, I think they did their job well, even though we disagree with the verdict,” he said. “I think this case was handled fairly by both sides, the defense and the prosecution. I think they (the jury) looked at everything they needed to look at. They are kind of the conscience of the community. And this is their decision, and we will respect it.”
Vickery said he believes the length of the sentence and the sentencing phase — more than a week — played a role in the jury’s decision. He said the prosecution expects to try Legg’s case early next year, and that it will be “a completely different trial” than Rogers’. He also thanked the “group effort” of law enforcement agencies: the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, etc.
Burney said his initial reaction to the sentence was “shock and sadness” because there were “no winners” on either side. In his closing statement yesterday, he compared the trajectory of Rogers’ life to that of his daughter — the two were born 40 days apart at Huntsville Hospital. His daughter is now a lawyer.
“It’s personal,” he said. “The state of Alabama wanted to kill him. Execute him.”
Cole said Burney’s daughter was the flower girl at his wedding.
“I got emotional when I heard him talk about that, because family is important and it matters who you’re born into,” he said. “In another family, Ricky (Frederic) Rogers isn’t in that family. And that’s what Brent made clear. It was personal. And I thought he did a great job and I’m proud of him.”
Cole likened his opening statement at the beginning of the guilt phase, in which he admitted Rogers’ guilt, to a “Hail Mary.”
“When you hear about this case at the beginning, you hear about seven dead bodies and the nature of it. Many people think there is no chance: this is an automatic death penalty case,” he said.
“I thought I had to acknowledge up front that he could be kept out of society for the rest of his life, that if jurors were afraid he would ever commit another crime, they wouldn’t have to live with that fear. I didn’t like doing it, but I thought it was in the best interest of the client. And I’m going to get some flack for it, but it was the right tactic.”
Burney agreed, saying research shows a dishonest defense nearly guarantees the death penalty. He said being upfront with the jury about Rogers’ guilt from day one helped their credibility with jurors.
Burney and Cole praised the jury’s diligence and thanked Miller, along with their investigator, the damage control team and the forensic experts.
“This was touted as the worst murder case, the biggest murder case, in Morgan County,” Burney said. “And out of a jury of 12, 10 just said give him life. And it started with Carl’s opening, without a doubt.”
— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.
