GREENWOOD – A suspect charged with robbing a man and then beating him to death with a slab of concrete has been sentenced to 35 years in jail. Bennie Leahman, 32, of Greenwood, pleaded guilty to those charges and asked the court to grant him the same sentence as his accomplice, Eugene McLemore.
McLemore was sentenced in 2009 after pleading guilty to robbery and manslaughter. He received 20 years for manslaughter and 15 years for robbery.
Authorities said in March 2007, Leahman and McLemore robbed James Jackson, of Greenwood, and then beat him with a concrete slab. Jackson was transported to a local hospital where he later died of his injuries.
When Jackson died, authorities upgraded the charges against Leahman from manslaughter to capital murder.
Leahman recently appeared in Leflore County Circuit Court where he entered a guilty plea. He is serving his 35 year sentence at the SMCI Facility in Leakesville.
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