A Mobile County jury has found a Prichard man guilty of murder in the 2011 shooting death of Sam Richardson, a longtime neighborhood barber whose small shop at Garrison and Main streets had been a fixture of daily life in the community for years.
Jurors returned the guilty verdict against Andrew Amison after deliberating for nearly a full day, closing out a trial that leaned heavily on forensic evidence and testimony from Richardson’s widow. Prosecutors argued the killing was carried out during a robbery, even though investigators later determined that Richardson was carrying almost nothing of value at the time he was attacked.
Richardson, 60, was found dead inside his barbershop on Nov. 22, 2011. According to testimony from a forensic expert presented on Jan. 15, he had been shot twice, once in the back of the head and once through the bottom lip. Investigators said the only items missing from the scene were Richardson’s cell phone, wallet and car keys, none of which have ever been recovered.
The robbery theory presented by prosecutors was complicated by testimony about how little cash Richardson actually carried. His wife, Shirley Richardson, told jurors on Jan. 15 that her husband made a habit of keeping his pockets light, both at home and at the shop.
“He was always careful not to carry around a lot of money,” she testified. “I found out later on that he only had $3 on him when he was shot. The reason he had $3 was because on Tuesday’s he loved to go to Hart’s chicken and get their 99-cent special. He would get him two pieces. All he had was $3.”
That detail became one of the more striking moments of the trial, underscoring for jurors just how little a man could lose his life over. Richardson had cut hair in the Prichard neighborhood for years and was well known to residents who passed through the shop regularly, making his death a painful loss for the surrounding community.
Amison is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19. His co-defendant in the case, Broderick Sylvester Brown, was previously convicted of two counts of felony murder and sentenced to 32 years in prison. Alabama law sets the maximum penalty for felony murder at life imprisonment, meaning Amison could face a substantially longer sentence when he returns to court next month.
The case moved through Mobile County Circuit Court over more than two years, from the initial investigation in late 2011 through separate trials for the two men accused in Richardson’s death. For neighbors and customers who remember him, the verdict marks a significant step toward closure in a case that shook a corner of Prichard many considered safe and familiar.