Semper Fi: More Than A Motto – The Murder
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There are certain stories that captivate us. The murder of Troy Mitchell, a Jackson locksmith gunned down while working on a car, was one of those. It was not only how he died, helping someone while earning an honest living, but who he was that struck a cord with West Tennessee. He was an American hero who devoted his life in service to God, country, Corps and his family, a man who lived by example not just word. For the first time since his shooting,Troy’s wife, Kelly, the now single mother of their seven sons, is talking publicly about the murder of her husband the two men sentenced to life for his death. A profound impact, that is how Kelly describes the way Troy still influences her and their family’s daily life. In fact, most mornings Kelly still shares her first cup of coffee with her husband. She peers out her kitchen window to Troy’s burial spot in the back portion of their land, in what is now the Mitchell family cemetery. Even now, more than a year and a half after his death Kelly admits, “I just miss everything about him.” It was on October 28, 2009, that everything changed for the Mitchell family. With Kelly home with a sick son, Troy instead drove their youngest to kindergarten before heading to work. “I can still see his van going down the road to take Gabe to school,” said Kelly. It was a typical morning that was anything but. Just a couple of hours after Troy and Gabriel left home, Kelly’s father called. He was worried that he could not get Troy on the phone. Kelly said after hanging up her her father she tried Troy but there was no answer. “So I called my father back and he said, ‘I think Troy has been hurt. Go to the hospital,'” recalled Kelly. At the hospital, after seeing Troy, Kelly, who is a trained nurse, knew the extent of the injury he suffered was a mortal one. Still he held on and breathed on his own for almost another 24 hours. “But I told them I did not want any heroic measures taken,” said Kelly. She knew a life on a ventilator was a life that Troy would not want to live. Troy, a highly decorated Marine who served in Desert Storm and survived the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, died the next day, before his second oldest son, an Army National Guardsman, could make it home. Grounded in Kuwait by a sand storm, Josh was forced to say his goodbyes from half a world away. “We had Josh on the phone and we put it up to Troy’s ear and we said, ‘You talk to Dad as long as you want, say anything you want,'” recalled Kelly. Exactly one week after the shooting, the same day Troy was laid to rest, Ameale Hudson was arrested. Lt. Tyreece Miller of the Jackson Police Department calls the then 24-year-old flippant, even playful during his interviews. “Even if he wasn’t responsible, he didn’t take the whole ordeal seriously,” said Lt. Miller. “I mean, a man had been murdered right outside his window and he was laughing about it.” Two days later, on November 6, 2009, Justin Gray, 15, was arrested and charged with the same counts of first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. Defiant and cold is how Lt. Miller described his interactions with the teen charged as an adult. “I not only felt like he had done it,” said Lt. Miller. “But I felt if he had the opportunity, he would do it again.” In separate trials, prosecutors laid it out like this — while working on a car, Hudson spotted Troy as easy prey and told Gray so, even handed him a revolver. Troy, with no time to react, was shot one in the face, likely with a .22. The wound left a tiny spot under his left eye but irreparable damage to his brain. The gun was never found nor was solid DNA evidence linking either man to the crime. However, each gave three differing accounts of what happened that day. In August of 2010, it took a jury less than 20 minutes to convict Hudson. Then in February of this year, another Madison County jury deliberated eight hours before convicting Gray. “The definitely had to pay and we were determined to make that happen,” said Lt. Miller. As for Kelly, the sentences of life in prison for both Hudson and Gray are merely earthly justice. “Even though they’re being punished, they can’t fix what they did,” said Kelly. “I have to realize that God ultimately will deal with them. Hudson and Gray are serving their sentences in Whiteville and Tiptonville respectively. Hudson could be eligible for parole when he turns 76. Gray could be eligible when he turns 66.
