LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CN) — The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction and 30-year sentence of a man who shot at a car of teenagers and killed one after they egged his home and threw toilet paper, leaves and mayonnaise on his son’s car.
Willie Noble of Little Rock was convicted of first-degree murder and six counts of terroristic acts for the 2014 death of Adrian Broadway, who was in the front passenger seat.
The 15-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed when Noble unloaded several rounds into the fleeing car of teenagers that had just egged his home and a neighbor’s.
Earlier that night, the group had pranked his son by throwing toilet paper, leaves and mayonnaise on his car.
On appeal, Noble, 52, claimed there was no proof that Adrian’s death was caused “in furtherance of” the terroristic acts, as required by the felony murder statute.
But in refusing to overturn the jury verdict on April 20, the state supreme court found sufficient evidence that the terroristic act of shooting at an occupied vehicle caused Adrian’s death and the subsequent first-degree murder conviction.
It also concluded that the trial court correctly refused to dismiss for lack of evidence.
However, Justice Josephine Hart wrote in dissent that the majority “failed to properly apply the felony murder statute.”
“In short, there is absolutely no evidence that Ms. Broadway’s death facilitated the terroristic act,” Hart wrote in dissent. “The majority has, in effect, rewritten the felony murder statute by ignoring the ‘furtherance’ element.”
Noble was also convicted of using a firearm during the commission of a felony for each of the six counts of terroristic acts.
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