DECATUR â Matthew A. Anderson Jr., the Decatur man convicted of shooting another man to death in the back of a crowded restaurant, was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday afternoon.
Anderson, 22, will be more than 70 years old before he is eligible for release. Macon County Circuit Court Judge James Coryell said the sentences â 25 years plus a 25-year enhancement for using a gun to kill â must be served at 100%.
Anderson was convicted by a jury in May of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 18-year-old Curtis T. Hairston. He was gunned down in a shoot-out with Anderson on Jan. 4, 2019, in the menâs restroom of the former Long John Silverâs restaurant on West Eldorado Street.
DECATUR â Matthew A. Anderson Jr. now faces a sentencing range of 45 years to natural life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder Thursday morning.
Anderson, 22, was found guilty of first-degree murder and the jury also found him guilty of personally discharging a firearm in the Jan. 4, 2019, death of 18-year-old Curtis T. Hairston. The victim was fatally wounded in a bathroom shootout in the former Long John Silverâs restaurant on West Eldorado Street. Anderson was also badly wounded.
The finding that Anderson had used a firearm in the crime automatically adds 25 years to the sentencing range.
The trial had started with jury selection Monday in Macon County Circuit Court and got underway Tuesday. The jury got the case at 3 p.m. Wednesday, asked several questions which Judge James Coryell answered, and then went home for the day at 4:30 p.m.
He entered not guilty pleas on all counts.
Blazich, 52, had first appeared in Macon County Circuit Court Sept. 16, 2020, for a preliminary hearing on identical charges involving the same victim and had also entered not guilty pleas. Judge James Coryell ruled in that hearing there was sufficient evidence to try him on all counts.
Blazich
But that case was dismissed at a hearing Dec. 11 after Macon County Stateâs Attorney Scott Rueter said an assistant stateâs attorney in his office had made him aware of âevidentiary issues.â Rueter, who was only elected as stateâs attorney in November, decided the case started under his predecessor could not proceed at that time.
A very special Santa Claus
By Carol Marsh - DarkeCountyMedia.com
Dave Gauvey, Greenville native and 1956 GHS graduate, also known as “Santa Dave,” portrays Santa Claus for the Fort Hood Santa’s Workshop, a non-profit organization serving military families in Fort Hood, Texas. Gauvey recently was honored as Volunteer of the Year.
Dave Gauvey, also known as D.H. Gauvey, and “Santa Dave,” is the author of a children’s book,
Santa’s Socks.
GREENVILLE As the holiday looms, children sometimes wonder if Santa Claus ever takes time off from his full-time occupation at the North Pole. Parents and grandparents are often asked what Santa does during the “off season” (other 364 days a year), when he is not feeding the reindeer or managing the elves at the magical toyshop. One answer (which I discovered recently) is that Santa Claus likes Texas, and spends a good deal of his time there, helping people discover the wonder of Christmas all year round.