Jessie James Harris, a 46 year old South Boston man, has been sentenced to a total of 179 months in jail for the second degree murder of Barbara Link Cunningham, 53, of Alton on January 30, 2005.
During Harris' trial last Friday in Person County Superior Court, evidence was presented showing that Cunningham was beaten to death with a toilet tank cover while she was staying at Roxboro Days Inn motel on North Madison Boulevard with her two year old grandson.
Harris stopped the trial at midday Friday to plead "no contest" to the charges while still not admitting his guilt. His court appointed attorney asked for a recess around 12:30 p.m. at which time Harris changed his plea prior to evidence being presented by the state medical examiner.
Harris was arrested after leaving Cunningham, who reportedly is a cousin of his, in the motel room, bleeding to death.. He was arrested on February 3, 2005 and has been in custody ever since. He was given credit for time served, which left him with an active 141 months left to serve on his sentence.