TALLADEGA COUNTY — A Talladega County grand jury has returned capital murder indictments in two unrelated cases.Demarcus “Duke” Lauderdale has been charged with two counts of capital murder in connection with the Dec. 2, 2007 shooting death of Steven Chad Faulkner, 21, in the Drew Court community of Sylacauga. About 7 that evening, a witness reported seeing Faulkner approached by a black male who demanded he hand over his belongings.
Faulkner got into a white van on Martin Luther King Drive and was starting to drive off when he was fatally shot by the same man who had tried to rob him.
A passenger in the van took over and tried to drive the van to Coosa Valley Medical Center, but apparently didn’t make it.
The van was recovered between Main Avenue and Third Street, and Faulkner was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lauderdale was initially arrested for armed robbery, according to Assistant District Attorney Christina Kilgore. The charge was upped to capital murder by the grand jury.
Lauderdale had been held in the Talladega County Jail since his arrest, but a bond was set on the robbery charge. Kilgore said Lauderdale was served with a copy of the indictment in jail. Since the charge has been increased, Talladega County Circuit Judge Bo Hollingsworth ordered he be held without bond until trial.
The two counts stem from it allegedly being a murder committed during a robbery and a murder by firing into an occupied vehicle.
Faulkner is survived by his mother and step-father, Barbara and Glenn Faulkner of Sylacauga; step-father Glenn Faulkner of New York; brothers Glenn and Jamie Faulkner of Sylacauga; three children, two grandparents and several aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.
The second capital murder indictment was handed down against Kenneth Leon Morrow, 58, of Heflin.
Morrow is accused of breaking into the home of Leigh Zajeski on Cedars Road in Munford on April 17, 2007. Once inside, he allegedly shot Charles Allen Barnes, 60, of Anniston at least five times in the back with a .38 caliber revolver. He then allegedly struck Zajeski in the head with the gun butt.
When Talladega County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, Morrow was holding the revolver to his own head and threatening to commit suicide if they came any closer. An emergency response team, including a hostage negotiator, eventually convinced Morrow to surrender without further incident.
Talladega County Chief Deputy Jimmy Kilgore, no relation to the assistant district attorney, said at the time Morrow and Zajeski had been involved in a long-term relationship, which had ended about six months before the shooting.
Morrow is charged with committing a murder in the course of a burglary.
Barnes was a Viet Nam veteran, a licensed practical nurse and a Mason. He is survived by two sons and three daughters.
A conviction for capital murder carries a penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole or death by lethal injection.
