The Alexander City Outlook

New Site resident receives life sentence

A New Site man convicted of first-degree rape in October was sentenced to life in prison this week.

Judge Ray Martin sentenced New Site resident Lonnie Joe Wilson, who was found guilty of first-degree rape Oct. 4, to life in prison with the possibility of parole on Monday. As previously reported by The Outlook, Wilson was arrested by the New Site Police Department May 19, 2010 and charged with first-degree rape of a 14-year-old female.

New Site Police Chief John McKelvey said Tuesday that he was pleased with the sentence.

“It’s appropriate with his history,” McKelvey said. “I also think it’s appropriate due to the age of the victim.”

According to McKelvey, the incident occurred at Foshee Trailer Park on Whaley Ferry Road in New Site on May 4, 2010. He said Wilson, who was 27 at the time of the incident, was living at the trailer park.
“The incident was reported after the child went to the emergency room and was then transported to the University of Alabama Children’s Hospital,” he said. “The victim was known to the suspect – not related to, but known to.”
Wilson was indicted by a grand jury in 2010 before going to trial in Tallapoosa County in October. Wilson returned to the Tallapoosa County Jail following the two-day trial.
Jeremy Duerr, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said in October that he was “proud of the jury’s verdict.”
“We don’t need predators walking around our streets with our children,” he said. “And, the excellent case work by Chief McKelvey is what led to the conviction of Lonnie Joe Wilson.”

Another sentencing handed down in an unrelated case, McKelvey said, was Jennifer Diane Walker, 21, of Gragford, Ala. Walker was sentenced to 36 months on Monday. Walker pleaded guilty during the court term after being charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree criminal mischief by the New Site Police Department on May 28, 2010.