Shon Byrd sentenced in robbery of elderly man

Shon Byrd has been sentenced to 49 years in prison for robbing a man in a Meridian grocery store parking lot on Mother's Day in 2014.

Billy Putnam, 87, was robbed and shot to death on May 11, 2014 in the parking lot of Vowell's Marketplace. In August of this year, Byrd went on trial for capital murder, armed robbery and three counts of credit card fraud all related to that incident.

On August 31, Byrd was convicted of armed robbery and three counts of credit card fraud. A mistrial was declared on the capital murder charge after a jury could not come to an agreement. Due to the guilty verdict for the armed robbery charge, Byrd cannot be retried for capital murder because of double jeopardy.

In court Thursday, Judge Lester Williamson sentenced Byrd to 40 years on the armed robbery charge. Those 40 years will be served day-for-day with no early release. Byrd is also sentenced to three years on each of the credit card fraud charges. He will serve a total of 49 years.

District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell says they asked for life in prison, which is the maximum for armed robbery.