Michelle Byrom Freed From Jail

(IUAK, MS) Michelle Byrom’s journey from Mississisippi’s death row to freedom is complete.

Michelle Elizabeth Byrom entered a plea of guilty today in Tishomingo County Circuit Court to the charge of Conspiracy to Commit Murder arising out of the 1999 death of her husband, Edward Louis Byrom. She was sentenced by Judge Paul Funderburk to serve twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and was given credit for sixteen years and twenty days she has already served with the balance suspended. She originally received the death penalty but the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the Capital Murder conviction; vacated the sentence; and remanded the case to Tishomingo County for a new trial. Byrom appeared today in a wheelchair with three of her attorneys and entered her plea of guilty after questioning by Judge Funderburk.
The two other principals in this case, Edward Byrom, Jr. And Joey Dale Gillis both entered pleas of guilty in 2001 and have already served their sentences and have been released; fourteen years and eight years respectively.
The case was handled for the State of Mississippi by District Attorney John Weddle and Assistant District Attorney Richard Bowen. Weddle said in a statement today that “this was a just disposition of Byrom’s case. To re-try this case would not be in the interest of justice nor would it serve any legitimate purpose for the citizens of Tishomingo County. Ms. Byrom was not directly involved in the shooting of her husband but has served a longer sentence than Byrom, Jr. or Gillis.”