FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
September 14, 2017
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
AG MARSHALL ANNOUNCES COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
UPHOLDS MONTGOMERY COUNTY CAPITAL MURDER CONVICTION
(MONTGOMERY)–Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Court
of Criminal Appeals has upheld Elijah Ray Frazier’s two convictions for capital murder. Frazier,
26, was convicted in August of 2016 for the murder of Keon Sankey. Although there was one
victim, Frazier was convicted for two counts because the crime was made capital murder in two
ways: (1) because the murder was committed in the course of a robbery, and (2) because
Frazier shot Sankey while Sankey was inside a vehicle.
The evidence at trial showed that on November 20, 2013, the victim, Sankey,
drove to the home of an acquaintance. After Sankey arrived and spoke with the
acquaintance, Frazier suddenly came out of the place he was hiding, struck Sankey in the
head from behind with a pistol and said “give it up.” Sankey ran to his car and Frazier shot him.
Sankey got into his vehicle. Frazier followed him, opened the driver’s side door and shot
Sankey again, twice. Sankey managed to drive off but crashed his vehicle a short distance
away, near the Montgomery intersection of Court Street and the Southern Boulevard. He was
transported to a local hospital where he died several hours later from the gunshot wounds.
The Frazier case was prosecuted at trial by Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl
Bailey’s Office. Frazier was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for
each conviction, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently. He subsequently sought to
have his convictions reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section handled the case during the appeal
process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the convictions. The
Court did so in a decision issued on Friday, September 8. Attorney General Marshall
commended Assistant Attorney General Ferris Stephens of the Attorney General’s Criminal
Appeals Section for his successful work in this case.
–30–
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
