Opinion ID: 2897994
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Criminal Offense

Text: Samra was convicted of capital murder, in violation of Alabama Code § 13A-5-40(a)(10), and he was sentenced to death for his role in the killings of Randy Duke, Dedra Hunt, Chelsea Hunt, and Chelisa Hunt. See Samra v. State (Samra Direct Appeal), 771 So. 2d 1108, 1111-12 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999); Samra v. Price (Samra § 2254 Proceeding), No. 2:07-cv-1962-LSC, 2014 WL 4452676, 2 Case: 14-14869 Date Filed: 09/08/2015 Page: 3 of 42 at  (N.D. Ala. Sept. 5, 2014). According to the evidence established at trial and by Samra’s own confession, Randy Duke’s sixteen-year-old son Mark Anthony Duke (“Duke”) devised the murder following an argument where Randy Duke refused to allow Duke to use a pickup truck. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . After planning the murder with Samra and two other friends, David Collums and Michael Ellison, the group obtained two guns and returned to Duke’s house. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . Samra and Duke entered the house while Collums and Ellison waited nearby. Id. Once inside, Duke went to the living room and shot his father, killing him. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . Meanwhile, Samra shot Dedra1 non-fatally in the cheek, and she fled upstairs, locking herself in the master bedroom’s bathroom with her six-year-old daughter Chelisa. Samra Direct Appeal, 771 So. 2d at 1111; Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . Duke broke down the bathroom door and shot Dedra to death. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . But because they had run out of bullets, Duke went downstairs to retrieve kitchen knives; he then slit Chelisa’s throat with a kitchen knife. Id. Dedra’s seven-year-old daughter Chelsea was hiding under a bed in another bedroom when Duke found her. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . According to Samra’s statement, Chelsea pled with Duke to 1 Because three members of the Hunt family were involved in these facts, we refer to each by first name to avoid confusion. 3 Case: 14-14869 Date Filed: 09/08/2015 Page: 4 of 42 stop and, as also evidenced by the defensive wounds on her body, vigorously fought for her life. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . Unable to kill her by himself, Duke held Chelsea down while Samra slit her throat. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at ; Samra Direct Appeal, 771 So. 2d at 1112. According to the testimony of the medical examiner, both girls died as a result of drowning in their own blood. After committing the murders, Samra and Duke ransacked the house to make it appear as though a burglary had gone wrong. Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at . Duke later returned to his house on March 23, 1997, where he called 911 to report the murders. After a couple of days of investigating, the police determined that Duke, Samra, Collums, and Ellison were the perpetrators. Samra confessed his role in the crime during questioning and assisted police in recovering weapons. See Samra § 2254 Proceeding, 2014 WL 4452676, at .