Cedric Cowan sentenced to life without parole for Decatur murders

Decatur, Ala. (WAFF) - A Morgan County judge has sentenced Cedric Cowan to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in a 2015 double murder.

Cowan was 16 at the time of the attack. Prosecutors say he and three other men were responsible. Cowan was also convicted on robbery charges for crimes that happened in the days surrounding the murder.

According to our news partners at the Decatur Daily, several members of the victim’s families were there when the announcement came down. Renee Davis wore a shirt with her son Joshua’s face on it. He was found dead in Wilson Morgan Park in May of 2015. Antonio Hernandez-Lopez was shot to death in the driveway of a home on Albert Street. “I’m just glad it’s over with for now, for (Joshua Davis) and Antonio Hernandez,” Davis said. “Now maybe I can start to heal a little bit, and my whole family.”

Cowan was convicted last November. His defense team argued that his age at the time of the crime should make him eligible for parole at some point. Morgan County Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell rejected that idea, saying “The court is satisfied that the capital crimes committed by the defendant did not result from transient immaturity but rather that those crimes resulted from the defendant’s permanent incorrigibility and as a predictable part of the troubled path he started years ago when he began breaking rules, disregarding laws and committing crimes,”

Cowan’s brother, Joseph, pled guilty last fall and was also sentenced to life without parole. He’s being held at the Limestone Correctional Facility. Two other defendants in the case, Cortez Mitchell and Amani Goodwin, are at two other prisons serving life sentences with the possibility of parole on various counts, including murder.