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Retrial of Como murder keeps jury behind doors
By Billy Davis
A circuit jury seated in Sardis this week was deliberating over a second murder trial throughout the afternoon on Thursday.
A verdict from the jury was still pending at press time.
Last year a Sardis jury found Antonio Glover guilty of killing Tommy “Burnside” Moore over missing narcotics in 2011.
But the murder conviction last year was overturned when it was learned a juror had lied about a drug conviction, perjuring himself.
Glover was also found not guilty on four counts, and District Attorney John Champion was unable to retry the defendant on those charges.
Champion sought the death penalty against Glover last year, but jurors chose a murder conviction over capital murder and the lesser conviction of manslaughter.
In the second trial Glover is also facing other counts besides murder. Jurors are also considering allegations of kidnapping and arson, and conspiracy charges related to both counts.
The jury is composed of 10 black jurors and two white jurors.
Authorities allege Glover acted as ringleader when a bag of marijuana was discovered missing outside his home, and it was suspected that Moore, who lived next door, had swiped it.
Moore’s body was found May 6, 2011 in a drainage ditch on Paul White Road. Authorities believed he was shot in Glover’s home and transported there.
The home was later burned to the ground.
An autopsy showed Glover had been shot several times. He was 32.
Champion did not oversee the state’s case this time, leaving that to Jay Hale and Rhonda Amis, both assistant district attorneys.
Glover has been represented by attorney John Keith Perry at both trials.
Circuit Judge Smith Murphey oversaw the trial.
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