Found Deceased AL - Wesley Clifton, 23, Boaz, 7 June 2016 *Arrests*

"People have been chattering here and there with some different information, and so our investigators are taking that and they're running down some leads," Natalie Barton said. "We have something that we're currently working on that may give us some substantial information, that will hopefully lead us in finding Wesley."

Deputies tell us Clifton is driving a 1995, red Honda Accord with the license plate of 8993AL3...

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Investigators are on the scene of a shallow grave found this afternoon near a pond in northern Etowah County.

Etowah County Sheriff's spokeswoman Natalie Barton said the body has not been identified, but investigators believe it may be Wesley Adam Clifton, 23, missing since last Wednesday.

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Two people have been taken into custody and charged with murder in the case. They are Kenneth Tyler Parker and Amber Nicole McCoy.

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“These are bad,” Etowah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marcus Reid cautioned Thursday before displaying photos of Wesley Clifton’s body, taken during an autopsy.

The photos were shown during testimony by a state pathologist in the trial of Clifton’s alleged killer. The pathologist told jurors Clifton suffered four “sharp force injuries” — the most significant being a cut across his neck that stretched from just under the angle of his jaw on one side to the other, all the way to the bone.

Parker is accused of cutting Clifton’s throat after Amber McCoy, also charged with murder in the case, lured him to Parker’s home on Black Bottom Road in the New Union community outside Boaz. The 23-year-old’s body was found a week after he was killed on June 8, 2016, buried in a shallow grave near a small pond by chicken houses owned by Parker’s family.

His body had started to decompose when it was found, making the photos displayed in court especially hard to take.

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An Etowah County jury took about an hour and 15 minutes to find Tyler Parker guilty of murdering Wesley Clifton.

Members of Clifton’s family were silent but several wiped tears as Etowah County Circuit Judge David Kimberley read the verdict.

The trial lasted four days. Parker will be sentenced Dec. 7.

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Prosecutors were grateful for the verdict.

“Wesley had his whole life ahead of him, only to be cut short by the cold-blooded actions of Tyler Parker,” Etowah County District Attorney Jody Willoughby said. “My heart continues to go out for Wesley’s family, and I thank them greatly for patience and confidence in my office.”

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Chief Deputy District Attorney Marcus Reid told jurors that Tyler Parker hid behind a door with a K-Bar knife while a female friend lured Wesley Clifton to his home on Black Bottom Road. Parker then cut the young man’s throat...

Both Reid and defense attorney Susan James of Montgomery told jurors that Clifton had an off-and-on relationship with Jessica Jones. Reid said Parker was obsessed with Jones, and that Parker had been abusive to her.

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Parker, 27, took the stand Friday morning. He told jurors he wanted Clifton brought to his home June 6, 2016, to “hash things out” in relation to a five-year “childish drama between me and him, over a woman who wanted to keep both me and him rattled up.”

Defense attorney Susan James asked if he intended Clifton any harm.

“Oh, heavens, no,” Parker said...

Parker told the jury he asked Amber McCoy — also charged with murder in Clifton’s death — to bring the man to his residence so he could talk to him about the conflict between them over Jessica Jones, an Albertville woman who had been in on-and-off relationships with both men...

McCoy testified she brought Clifton in through the door Parker requested, to Parker’s bedroom, where she saw the defendant grab him by the neck. McCoy left, but returned later when Parker called. He asked her to destroy some of Clifton’s belongings, and gave her a piece of paper with the passcode for Clifton’s phone, telling her to delete the messages and texts.

She later helped him hide Clifton’s car, when burning it didn’t work.

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Parker's girlfriend, Amber McCoy, is still awaiting trial for murder in the same case.

Parker will be sentenced Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. by Circuit Judge David Kimberly.

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“Your actions after the murder show a lack of compassion, a lack of common human decency,” the judge said. “I can’t conclude that justice demands any other sentence than the maximum.”

In sentencing Parker to 99 years in prison, Kimberley said he didn’t anticipate that he would be around when the defendant is considered for release, and he wanted his comments to be on the record for that time.

“It’s my expectation and intention that the defendant serve every bit of that (sentence) before being considered for release,” he said.

Charges remain against McCoy, who testified that she brought Clifton to Parker’s home the night he was murdered. Reid said he expects the state to try to reach a plea agreement with her in the coming weeks.

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