An Augusta man who pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery charges in the brutal slaying of a Hephzibah small businessman in 1994 has been paroled.
Lamont Medley, 54, was released on parole March 17. He was sentenced to two consecutive life in prison terms in 1996 in the murder of 33-year-old Carl Pierre Lambert.
Medley was denied parole four times during the 27.9 years he spent in prison, said Steve Hayes, spokesman for the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles. Medley will remain on parole for the rest of his life and be supervised at the highest level, Hayes said. Parole was granted after Medley completed a work release program.
About two weeks after Lambert was found dead in his Claymont Drive home in Hephzibah on May 21, 1994, Medley and Anthony T. Hurst were arrested. Each blamed the other for stabbing and slashing Lambert to death. Both were found with jewelry items stolen from the victim, according to the prosecution’s case file compiled in 2005 when Medley pursued an unsuccessful appeal of his sentence.
Medley was the one who knew Lambert. A friend of his girlfriend’s grave the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office detectives the major break in the case. His girlfriend told investigators Medley confessed to her that he killed Lambert and that he talked her into pawning some of the stolen jewelry.
Hurst told investigators that he agreed to give Medley a ride the night of May 20, 1994, and they ended up at Lambert’s home at Medley’s direction. Hurst said he was sitting in the living room when Medley and Lambert went into the kitchen to talk, and he heard sounds of a struggle. Hurst said when he went into the kitchen, the two men were on the floor and Medley, who outweighed the victim by 75 pounds, was cutting Lambert’s throat.
According to the autopsy report, Lambert had tried to defend himself and suffered knife wounds to his hands and arms. He was also stabbed twice in the chest, and he was nearly decapitated.
The district attorney prosecuted Medley and Hurst on capital murder charges. They were to be tried separately with Medley going first, but Medley pleaded guilty in April 1996 and agreed to testify against Hurst.
Hurst was tried and acquitted the following month. According to media reports at the time, Medley gave a hourlong monolog complete with sound effects for the jury. He said the killing and robbing was all Hurst’s idea. Even the victim’s family didn’t believe Medley’s account from the witness stand.
In 2005 Medley challenged his consecutive life sentences. In hand-written petitions with case law cited, Medley argued that since he plead guilty to felony murder with the underlying felony being armed robbery, he shouldn’t have also been punished for armed robbery. A Superior Court judge rejected Medley’s petition. Medley filed notice he would appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, but he later withdrew his appeal.
Lambert, a native of Augusta and graduate of T.W. Josey High School, operated his own business, Pierre’s Beauty Salon on Windsor Spring Road.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
