Circuit Judge Smith Murphey V has handed down a 20-year sentence in connection with the May 2024 shooting death of a man in the parking lot of a rural store.
Melvin Lee, 37, of 1493 Clarence Richardson Road, Charleston, was charged and indicted for the May 14, 2024, murder of Charles Westbrooks, 49, outside Westbrooks Grocery on Sharkey Road.
During a May 12, 2025, court appearance in Sardis, Lee avoided a trial that had been scheduled for that week by entering a negotiated plea of guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the heat of passion.
He was sentenced by Murphey to 12 years imprisonment, four years of reporting post-release supervision and four years of non-reporting post-release supervision.
Lee was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, $441.50 in court costs and $100 to a crime victim’s compensation fund.
Westbrooks, of 1605 Swan Lake Road, was shot multiple times with a .300 blackout firearm and died at the scene.
No motive for the crime was ever made public.
