Woman guilty in nightclub slaying
By Marty Roney
Montgomery AdvertiserAfter hearing testimony for two-and-a-half days, an Autauga County jury took about 20 minutes Tuesday before finding Barbara Jane Huffman guilty of murder in a 2003 club shooting.
Huffman, 49, of 2474 Alma Lane will be sentenced Nov. 8 by Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds.
On July 6, 2003, Huffman fired her pistol inside the crowded Chicken Shack, a nightclub on U.S. 82, about 10 miles north of Prattville, said Jennifer Jordan, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. Keidrich "Kiki" Phillips, 23, of Autaugaville was killed.
Huffman's bond was revoked after the verdict came in. The clicks of the handcuffs locking could be heard in the hushed courtroom as a female deputy led her away.
"May God forgive y'all," Huffman said as she was being taken to the Autauga Metro Jail.
Huffman, who court records state has no previous convictions, was charged with reckless murder. She faces 10 to 99 years in prison. The state presented evidence that Huffman fired a semi-automatic pistol several times in the club in an effort to break up a fight between her sons and another group of men.
"This is the very definition of reckless murder," District Attorney Randall Houston said. "She was drinking. She carried a loaded gun into a bar. She fired that loaded gun in a dark, crowded bar. The jury saw the evidence and made the right decision."
Defense attorneys acknowledged Huffman fired her gun several times in the club, but argued no evidence was presented that showed she had killed Phillips.
"We are disappointed, of course," said Roianne Conner, one of Huffman's attorneys. "I thought we had a good case."
Phillips was not involved in the altercation Huffman was trying to break up, Jordan said. He died after being shot in the back of the head twice, testimony showed.
"It won't bring him back, but maybe this will help y'all move on," Jordan said, hugging Phillips' mother just after the verdict was announced.
There was an increased law enforcement presence in the courtroom for the three days of the trial. Huffman's and Phillips' family sat just a few feet away from each other, in different pews, during the hearing. Several Autauga County Sheriff's Office deputies and jailers were on hand when the verdict was read. There were no problems as the families filed out of the courthouse separately.
