U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst announced that 37-year old Christopher E. Lemon was sentenced on Thursday to serve 40 years in federal prison for the second-degree murder of his co-worker, Courtney Cook back in July 2014.
A media release stated that Lemon was riding in a car with the woman on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Leake County and then pulled out a stolen firearm. Lemon shot Cook five times in the chest and leg, and left the body in the backseat of her vehicle. She was later found by a National Park Service ranger dead at the scene.
A federal grand jury indicted Lemon on September 20, 2016, charging him with Murder in the Second Degree, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Stolen Firearm, Stealing a Firearm and Use of a Firearm in Relation to a Crime of Violence.
Lemon appeared before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves and pled guilty to second-degree murder in September 2016.
Lemon’s 40-year sentence will be immediately followed by a 5-year term of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $7,269.34 to the Office of Attorney General- Crime Victim Compensation Fund.
