CONVICTION IN THE LARRY COMPTON MURDER TRIAL

Victim Shot Twice and Body Dumped

Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announces a conviction in the murder trial of 30-year-old Larry Compton. On July 21, 2002, after a long running dispute with the victim, witnesses testified they heard two shots and later saw Compton and others struggling to place the body of 45- year-old Jerry Lamar Heard into the trunk of a car. The two men had been fighting in the backyard of Compton’s home in the Pittsburgh neighborhood (I-75 and University Avenue) of Atlanta.

Heard’s body was found by a passer-by in a dumpsite off 17 Springside Drive near I-75 and Cleveland Avenue.

After four days of deliberations, a Fulton County jury found Compton guilty today (6/18/04) of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Judge Gail Tusan sentenced Compton to life plus five years to be served consecutively.

Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker was the lead prosecutor in the case; investigator Jerald Dalton with the Fulton County DA’s office helped develop the evidence used to gain the conviction.

CONTACT: Lyn Vaughn, 404-224-0560 (office); 404-533-1381 (pager)