Tennessee man pleads guilty to killing armored car courier

Prison interior. Jail cells and shadows, dark background. 3d illustration / Getty Images
Prison interior. Jail cells and shadows, dark background. 3d illustration / Getty Images

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee man with a long criminal record has pleaded guilty to killing an armored car courier during a robbery 22 years ago.

Shelby County prosecutors say 46-year-old Andrew Thomas pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in the death of James Day. A judge sentenced Thomas to 25 years in prison. Thomas is already serving a life sentence in federal prison on other crimes.

Thomas was convicted and sentenced to death in the case in 2001, but a federal appeals court overturned the conviction and sentence. Thomas is scheduled for another trial this week on capital murder charges.

An accomplice identified Thomas as the man who shot Day in the head on April 21, 1997. Day died more than two years later.

Thomas has 16 armed robbery convictions.

Upcoming Events