In the late autumn of 2008, the life of 27-year-old Gregory 'Greg' Shelton Jr., a Black male from Birmingham, Alabama, came to a tragic and violent end. On November 24, 2008, Shelton's body was discovered in a field off South Park Drive in the southwestern part of the city. A graduate of Huffman High School's class of 1999, his death left his family, including his mother, father, sister, and brother, to grapple with a devastating loss.
The investigation into Shelton's murder quickly
uncovered a dark and complex backstory. Authorities determined that Shelton himself was allegedly connected to a prior homicide that had occurred earlier that same month. It is believed that Shelton's death was a direct consequence of his failure to get rid of a cell phone that linked him and an accomplice to the earlier killing of Christian Callins. This critical piece of evidence ultimately sealed his fate.
The day after Shelton's body was found, police charged Martez Seay with his murder. Seay was already a suspect and believed to be Shelton's accomplice in the Callins case. The investigation revealed that Seay had murdered Shelton to silence him and eliminate any connection to the previous crime. This breakthrough brought a swift, albeit grim, resolution to the question of who was responsible for Shelton's death.
In 2010, the legal proceedings against Martez Seay reached their conclusion. Seay entered into a plea agreement, admitting his guilt in a string of homicides, which included the murders of both Gregory Shelton Jr. and Christian Callins. As a result of his plea, Seay was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In August of 2023, Martez Seay was found deceased in his prison cell, bringing a final and somber close to the case.
