MILL VALLEY DRIVE MURDER: Accused shooter indicted by grand jury

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Court records show a man accused of fatally shooting his neighbor in front of a child during an argument over a child’s toy has been indicted by the Limestone County grand jury.

Travis Lee Stanley was first arrested in May following the shooting death of 33-year-old Joey Sutton. Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said at the time that Stanley had chastised Sutton’s son for riding a bicycle down the street, which later turned into an argument between Sutton and Stanley.

Email newsletter signup

Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office, said it wasn’t the first time that the neighbors had argued. However, it proved to be the last, as Jones said Stanley pulled out a pistol and shot Sutton multiple times in Stanley’s front yard on Mill Valley Drive.

Two days later, the murder charge on which Stanley was originally arrested was upgraded to capital murder due to the presence of Sutton’s child when the murder occurred. Officials never released how many others witnessed the shooting, minors or otherwise, but Jones said “it became very clear how close the victim’s minor child was to the incident” as the investigation continued.

Stanley was indicted on the capital murder charge Dec. 10, records show. He and his wife, Christina Stanley, were also indicted by the same grand jury on drug charges, stemming from investigators discovering marijuana and kratom in the Stanleys’ home during a search after the shooting.