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This week, Circuit Judge Lex Short handed down a life sentence to Brittany Erin Nicole Head, 25, of Opp following a  conviction of felony murder for her participation in the in November 2020 murder of Micah Spencer Coon, 26, of Andalusia.

During the trial, District Attorney Walt Merrell, who served as lead prosecutor in the case, offered testimony that on the night of Micah’s murder, there was a physical altercation in the parking lot of a local convenience store between Micah, Brittany Head, and her husband. 

“According to Head, the fight started when Head’s husband referred to Micah in a derogatory manner,” Merrell told the jury.  “Because Micah easily won the parking lot fight against Head’s husband, Head’s pride left her enraged.” 

Merrell added that being embarrassed from the fight, Head and her husband went and recruited three other family members. The group of five people broke into Micah’s home and killed him while his wife and children hid in the next room.

In Micah’s graphic 911 phone call, listeners in the courtroom heard Micah try to stop the home invasion by telling the defendants, “My kids are in here!”

Andalusia Police Officer Zak Wallace, who was the lead investigator on the case, testified that, “From the time of the fight until Micah called 911, less than 13 minutes had elapsed.”

Testimony showed that Micah succumbed to gunshot wounds from a rifled projectile that entered his pelvis and fragmented throughout his abdomen.  His front teeth had been knocked out, and his eye was blacked, all due to blunt force trauma.

At the sentencing hearing, Merrell called Leslie Coon, Micah’s mother, to the stand. 

Mrs. Coon testified that, “Anywhere Micah went, he knew everybody. He was just a ball of sunshine.  But Micah wasn’t the only one who lost his life that night. Our lives stopped, too.” 

In her emotional testimony, Mrs. Coon added, “Brittany had 13 minutes to change all of their minds.”

Merrell praised Micah’s family for their strength through this process. 

“I am thankful for the sentence Judge Short handed down.  This family has already been through four years of pain. One co-defendant had already pled guilty at the time of trial. Now, Head will spend the rest of her life in prison for Micah’s murder.  And, as I’ve said before, for the rest of them — their day is coming.”

Merrell thanked Andalusia Police Department Chief Paul Hudson and Captain Brett Holmes for their leadership throughout the investigation and Zak Wallace for his dedication to the investigation and case from the very beginning.  Merrell also thanked Assistant District Attorney Nikki Stephens and Erin Wilson, a long-time employee of the DA’s Office and a third-year law student conditionally admitted to practice, for their tireless work on the case and during the trial.

“Our goal is to find justice for family members, and I am thankful that Micah’s family felt some measure of justice this week.”