The News-Courier in Athens, Alabama

May 13, 2009

Son accused of beating mother to death acquitted


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A Jefferson County jury has acquitted Preston McCombs on a charge of beating his mother to death with a metal softball bat.

The jury deliberated until about 10 a.m. Wednesday and said 26-year-old McCombs was not guilty of capital murder in the April 28, 2008 death of his mother, Sherry McCombs, in her home near Warrior.

Prosecutors argued that the cash-strapped defendant killed his 44-year-old mother in an attempt to collect an inheritance and live in her home with Missy Stewart, manager at a Dora topless bar where he hung out.