By Ray King

After deliberating less than an hour Friday afternoon, a Jefferson County Circuit Court jury found an Altheimer man guilty of murdering two people in 2018.

Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter told Deltaplex news the jury found Joshua Lasley guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Trevarland Smith and Rodney Scaife on June 22, 2018.

Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis sentenced Lasley to life in prison on each count with the sentences to run consecutively, or one after the other. In addition, the jury found that Lasley used a firearm in the commission of the crimes and he was sentenced to five years in prison on each of the two counts with that sentence to also run consecutively.

Case records showed that the shooting occurred on Highway 15 near Tucker. When  deputies arrived, they found Smith unresponsive lying on the west side of the highway. He was pronounced dead at Jefferson Regional Hospital. Scaife, was found in the driver’s seat of a vehicle on the east side of the highway.

Witnesses told investigators that they saw Lasley, who had 4 or more prior felony convictions and was tried as an habitual offender.

Hunter and Deputy Prosecutor Shana Alexander represented the state during the two day trial and Lasley was represented by attorney William Howard.