Accessory in murder case gets five-year, suspended sentence

By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
Nov. 18, 2003
The accessory in a capital murder case pleaded guilty Monday in Lauderdale County Circuit Court and received a five-year, suspended sentence.
Stanley Neil Lyles died Aug. 20, 2002. Deputies discovered his body Aug. 23 in his home on Sneed Road. He had been stabbed to death, and his Ford Explorer was gone.
Three people were indicted in March 2003 in connection with Lyles' death. Jonathan Richard Davis, then 18, was a Marine at Naval Air Station Meridian. Eric Michael Thomas, then 20, was from Meridian. A Lauderdale County grand jury handed down capital murder indictments against both.
An enlisted woman, 20-year-old Rosemary Rae Para, was indicted as an accessory after the fact of capital murder.
Both Davis and Para received "other than honorable" discharges from the U.S. Navy shortly after they were arrested.
It was Para who pleaded guilty on Monday before Circuit Judge Robert Bailey, asserting that while she did not help commit the alleged murder, she did drive Davis and Thomas to Michigan afterwards.
As part of her plea bargain, Para agreed to testify at the trial of Davis and Thomas and promised that her testimony would match statements she has already made to Lauderdale County sheriff's investigators.
Quick takes
Sentencing: Para was sentenced before she testified, as promised, in her plea bargain. The situation brings to mind a disastrous plea bargain earlier this year in a home invasion at businessman Ralph Morgan's home.
There were two defendants in that case. One went to trial, and the other received a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony.
But, the defendant who made the deal with the district attorney's office came up with amnesia on the day of the trial. Without his testimony, the jury found the second defendant not guilty.
It is to avoid problems like this that prosecutors often delay sentencing until co-defendants with deals actually hold up their end of the bargain and testify.
Unbelievable: If Para's statement to Lauderdale County investigators is true, she, Davis and Thomas took a cab to Lyles' house with the same cabbie who had spent much of the day ferrying them around. Afterwards, she said, the men stole Lyles' Explorer and didn't need any more cabs.
Prior conviction: Thomas was on probation for another felony conviction in Lauderdale County when he was charged with capital murder in Lyles' death. Amazingly, both crimes involved the same victim. Two years ago, Thomas was convicted of the April 2001 burglary of Lyles' house.
Next step: The trial of Davis and Thomas has been tentatively set for Jan. 26. It would not be unusual, however, for the trial to be delayed at least one more time.