JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A jury convicted a Jacksonville man Wednesday evening in the 2008 attempted murder of his stepson and a murder-for-hire plot he devised while in jail.
The jury found Alva Fleming, 52, guilty of attempted first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder in the first-degree, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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In January 2008, Fleming and his wife had a verbal argument at home. When Fleming's stepson, Trey Byrd, tried to intervene, Fleming went outside, retrieved his gun, came back, and as Byrd walked away down a hallway, shot at his back several times, striking him once.
Fleming argued he shot Byrd in self-defense.
Between December and June, while Fleming was in the Duval County jail, he approached an inmate about killing the witnesses to the crime -- his wife and her two sons, one of whom was Byrd. The inmate contacted the state attorney's office, and investigators went undercover.
Fleming gave details of whom he wanted to kill and how much he was willing to pay, and then when it was taking too long, he offered an undercover investigator the deed to his home as collateral for the murders to occur.
"This case took a very long time. The family was very patient, but ultimately the jury returned a just verdict holding the defendant accountable for his actions," said Assistant State Attorney David Thompson.
Fleming has a 2002 conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer, along with seven other felony convictions. He faces life in prison and will be sentenced the week of Oct. 15.