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This week, Circuit Judge Lex Short handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the maximum sentence allowable under the law, to Frank Cortez McQueen, 46, of Evergreen, Alabama.

McQueen was convicted of intentional murder and burglary in the first degree in March 2025 for his participation in the murder of Micah Spencer Coon, 26, of Andalusia.

At trial, McQueen was represented by local attorney Chris Sledge of Patel & Sledge.

“Chris tried a fantastic case and is a heck of an attorney, but, at the end of the day, the jury knew there was plenty of evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that McQueen was guilty,” said District Attorney Walt Merrell.

Merrell, along with now-Chief Assistant District Attorney Nikki Stephens, and Erin Wilson, practicing under a special provision that allows law students to participate in trial work, handled the matter for the state.

During the trial, the state offered testimony that, on the night of Micah’s murder, there was a physical altercation in the parking lot of a local convenience store between Micah, Brittany Head, and Tyquise Jenkins. At trial, witnesses testified that Micah bested Jenkins and then left the scene and went home. Jenkins and Head retreated to the home of Dora Porter on Whatley Street, where they rallied help. Jenkins and Head left the Whatley Street residence in the company of Dontavious Powell, Frank McQueen, and Courtney Porter. All five then went to Micah’s residence on George Street and forcibly entered the home. Testimony revealed that, while there, McQueen fatally shot Micah. Micah’s wife and children hid in the next room as he was murdered.

Testimony showed that Micah succumbed to gunshot wounds from a rifled projectile that entered his pelvis and fragmented throughout his abdomen. His front teeth had been knocked out, and his eye was blacked, all due to blunt force trauma.

“Not only did McQueen shoot an unarmed man in cold blood, he beat him mercilessly, too. This was a vicious and senseless murder,” Stephens said.

Related to sentencing, Coon’s mother, Leslie, previously testified that, “Anywhere Micah went, he knew everybody. He was just a ball of sunshine. Micah wasn’t the only one who lost his life that night. Our lives stopped, too.”

During the sentencing hearing, Merrell pointed out to the Court, “With his prior convictions, McQueen’s minimum sentence is life in prison, and his maximum sentence is life without.”

Merrell asked Short to sentence McQueen to “life without because he has shown himself to be a violent offender before, and he has no remorse for killing Micah.” Short noted that, in consideration of McQueen’s prior convictions for violent offenses – all out of the State of North Carolina – “I sentence you to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

Merrell praised Micah’s family for their strength through this process.

“I am thankful for the sentence Judge Short handed down,” Merrell said. “Short sentenced McQueen to two consecutive terms of LWOP, so he must serve the entirety of the first one before he even starts serving the second one. Frank McQueen will die in an Alabama prison for the murder of Micah Coon. He will breathe his last breath in a cage and can never hurt anyone on the outside world – ever again. That is justice.”

Brittany Head, one of McQueen’s accomplices, has already been convicted for her involvement in Coon’s murder. Short sentenced her to life in prison.

 

Merrell thanked Nikki Stephens and Erin Wilson and added, “If it wasn’t for their hard work and dedication, this verdict would have been much more difficult to obtain. They are invaluable to this office and to this community.”

He also commended the Andalusia Police Department, especially Investigator Zak Wallace, for their hard work on the investigation.

Sentencing for another defendant, Tyquise Jenkins, is set for next month.