MOBILE, Ala. — A Mobile County jury this week found Jamal Hicks guilty of murder in the November 2023 shooting death of Joe Henderson, a killing that prosecutors said grew out of Hicks’ belief that Henderson had taken something from his porch.
The verdict came at the end of a trial held this week in Mobile County Circuit Court. Hicks is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4, 2026. Henderson was killed on Nov. 24, 2023, the day after Thanksgiving that year, in a shooting along Dauphin Island Parkway in Mobile.
What Jurors Heard at Trial
According to the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, jurors heard evidence during the trial that the confrontation began with an accusation of theft. Hicks believed Henderson had stolen something from his porch, prosecutors said.
Hicks found Henderson at a gas station, where Henderson was with his girlfriend. There, according to the evidence presented, Hicks confronted Henderson and struck him with a pistol.
The encounter did not end at the gas station. Henderson and his girlfriend left on foot, while Hicks drove away. But prosecutors said Hicks then waited for the couple at a nearby intersection. When Henderson reached that intersection, Hicks shot and killed him.
That sequence — the two men separating, followed by a second confrontation — was central to how the prosecution described the case. It meant that, in the state’s telling, the fatal shooting was not a spur-of-the-moment continuation of the gas station argument, but a renewed confrontation after both sides had already gone their separate ways.
District Attorney: ‘He Chose to Wait’
District Attorney Keith Blackwood emphasized that point in a statement released after the verdict.
“Joe Henderson was walking away. Jamal Hicks had driven off, but he chose to wait for Henderson and confront him again with a gun,” Blackwood said. “A dispute over something Hicks believed was stolen ended with a man dead and a family grieving. Gun violence turns ordinary disagreements into irreversible loss, and we will hold those who make that choice fully accountable.”
The state’s case was presented by Assistant District Attorney Richard Foreman. He was assisted by Trial Coordinator Brooke Stanford and Chief Investigator Don Boykin of the District Attorney’s Office.
From Arrest to Verdict
The case has been moving through the Mobile County courts for nearly three years. Hicks was charged with murder shortly after the shooting. In early December 2023, he entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. At that hearing, bail was set at $100,000, and the judge lowered the cash portion of the bond requirement to $5,000.
A plea of not guilty is the standard first step for most defendants in Alabama’s criminal courts. It preserves a defendant’s right to a trial and requires the state to prove its case. In a murder case, that burden is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and a conviction requires a unanimous verdict from a 12-member jury.
Felony cases in Alabama typically pass through several stages before trial: an arrest and initial appearance, a preliminary hearing in district court to determine whether there is probable cause, presentation of the case to a grand jury for indictment, arraignment in circuit court, pretrial motions and, finally, trial. Delays of two to three years between an arrest and a trial are not unusual for homicide cases, which often involve forensic testing, witness interviews and extensive pretrial litigation.
What Happens at Sentencing
Under Alabama law, murder is a Class A felony. The state’s sentencing statute provides that a Class A felony is punishable by life in prison or a term of not less than 10 years and not more than 99 years.
The same statute sets a higher floor when a weapon is involved. For a Class A felony in which a firearm or deadly weapon was used or attempted to be used, the minimum sentence is 20 years. The final sentence in any case is determined by the judge, who can consider factors such as a defendant’s criminal history, a presentence investigation report and statements from the victim’s family.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4. The District Attorney’s Office has not said what sentence prosecutors will ask the court to impose.
Once a sentence is handed down, a defendant convicted of a felony in Alabama has the right to appeal. Appeals from circuit court criminal convictions go first to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, which reviews the trial record for legal errors. A defendant may also file post-trial motions, such as a motion for a new trial, with the trial court. The jury’s verdict stands unless it is set aside by the trial judge or a higher court.
A Case the DA Framed Around Gun Violence
Blackwood’s statement framed the Henderson killing as an example of how a gun can turn an argument deadly. His remarks described the dispute as an “ordinary” disagreement over a belief that something had been stolen — one that, in the prosecution’s account, ended in an “irreversible loss.”
The statement closed with a pledge that his office “will hold those who make that choice fully accountable” — a reference to the decision, as prosecutors described it, to wait for Henderson and confront him a second time with a gun.
For Henderson’s family, the verdict comes nearly three years after his death. Blackwood’s statement noted that the dispute left “a family grieving.”
What Comes Next
- Nov. 4, 2026: Hicks is scheduled to appear for sentencing in Mobile County Circuit Court.
- Possible range: As a Class A felony involving a firearm, the murder conviction carries a minimum of 20 years under state law, up to 99 years or life.
- After sentencing: Hicks may pursue post-trial motions and an appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.
Until sentencing, Hicks remains subject to the orders of the court.