Jordan Harris given life in prison without parole for slaying of Walter Phelps

ALBANY — An Albany man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday for the 2010 shooting death of an Albany business owner.

Jordan Harris, who in August was found guilty of felony murder in the death of P&P Garden and Hardware Store owner Walter Phelps, was given the life sentence by Dougherty County Chief Superior Court Judge Willie Lockett to run consecutively to two other life sentences Harris received in 2011 for the armed robbery of an Albany convenience store.

In addition to the life sentence, Harris was given two 20-year sentences for aggravated assault, three five-year sentences for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and a three-year sentence for financial card transaction fraud.

Harris was silent as Lockett handed down the sentences and also was silent as members of Phelps’ immediate family read prepared statements about the impact of losing a loved one.

“Let’s say what this was — the armed robbery and cowardly murder of my father because Jordan Harris could not man up and get a job and provide for himself or others,” said Phelps’ son Charles Walter Phelps. “For the last 1,612 days the family, friends, neighbors and customers of Walter Phelps have been disenfranchised by Jordan Harris for his cold-blooded murder of Walter Phelps.”

Harris also remained silent as his friends and family addressed the courtroom on his behalf, many saying they did not believe Harris was the shooter and that he should not be given life without parole.

“I don’t think Jordan pulled the trigger, but that was not my decision,” said Sabrina Owens Hayes, a friend of Harris and his family. “His life is still worth something. He is a person and God is a God that gives second chances.”

After Harris was sentenced, Lockett handed out a sentence of three years probation to Ezekial James for financial card transaction fraud for his role in the robbery of P&P Garden and Hardware that led to Phelps’ death.

James, who had been a co-defendant with Harris at the August murder trial, was not convicted of any other charges. Lockett sentenced James under the state’s first-time offender law.