Mississippi
MS man whose death sentence was overturned in 2023 is now facing death again. Here’s why
A man on Mississippi’s death row whose conviction was overturned last year will remain on death row after a federal appellate court said the lower court made the ruling in error.
Terry Pitchford was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2006 for the death of a man in a Grenada County grocery store during an armed robbery in 2004.
The victim, Reuben Britt, reportedly was shot with two different types of guns. One of the guns turned out to be Britt’s, according to court records.
Pitchford allegedly took part in an earlier attempted robbery of the grocery store. When investigators with the Grenada County Sheriff’s Office searched the vehicle that witnesses said they saw at the grocery store, they found the victim’s gun.
The vehicle was parked outside Pitchford’s house.
In 2023, Terry Pitchford’s conviction and death sentence were set aside and a new trial ordered by a federal district court judge.
Despite the ruling, the 39-year-old remained listed on the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ death row while Mississippi Attorney Lynn Fitch appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Friday, the conviction and sentence were reinstated by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after it determined the judge in Pitchford’s case considered whether the elimination of four potential jurors who were Black was racially motivated.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mills of the Mississippi Northern District said the state Supreme Court erred when it ruled in Pitchford’s 2010 appeal that the trial court did not excuse four out of five potential Black jurors because of their skin color.
The trial judge said the prosecution was able to prove the non-white members of the jury pool were all dismissed for valid reasons that had nothing to do with race. He allowed the trial to begin with 11 white and one Black juror with two white alternates.
The racial makeup of Grenada County was about 40% Black at the time of Pitchford’s trial.
Pitchford admitted to his role in the crime, but said he did not shoot Britt. According to court documents, Pitchford and his friend Eric Bullin went to the Crossroads Grocery store intending to rob it.
The intended robbery turned deadly when Bullin shot Britt three times with a .22 caliber pistol, while Pitchford said he fired shots into the floor. Bullin is serving 60 years for five crimes, including 20 years for manslaughter, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections records.
Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.