Jones County man sentenced to life in prison for 2018 murder

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A jury found a Jones County man guilty of the 2018 fatal shooting of 33-year-old Javaris Antoine Brown.

This comes from a news release from the Macon-Bibb DA’s office.

A jury found 27-year-old Keith Beddingfield Jr. guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and armed robbery. A Bibb County Superior Court judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The incident

Prosecutors presented the following evidence:

Brown’s girlfriend testified that Brown told her he was robbed at gunpoint on Feb. 3, 2018. Brown believed a man named “Keith” set him up.

Brown started selling drugs. About $800-worth of drugs were stolen.

Phone records showed text messages between Brown and Beddingfield leading up to the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2018.

Beddingfield’s then-wife testified she drove to the area of Carling and Napier avenues with Beddingfield that afternoon. She stayed in their green Ford Explorer when Beddingfield got out and got into a car with Brown.

She said she heard raised voices and then multiple gunshots. Her husband returned to the Explorer and they left.

Evidence also showed that Beddingfield took a bag of drugs from Brown at gunpoint.

Beddingfield’s then-wife said she and Beddingfield returned to the area soon after Beddingfield discovered that he left his phone in the car with Brown.

A motorist later found Brown fatally shot in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the road near the intersection of Carling and Napier Avenues. She called 911.

Medical evidence shows Brown was shot three times in the head and once in the neck.

After his arrest, Beddingfield tried to convince an inmate to help him create an alibi for the time of the killing. The inmate refused.

Jurors also heard a recorded cell phone call in which Beddingfield tried to arrange a robbery of the Dollar Store where his wife worked.

While he tried to convince his wife to participate so they could get money to bond him out of jail, Beddingfield offered a man $1,000 to kill his wife during the heist. Beddingfield said, “she had folded on me.”