MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a year and a half of waiting, a family is starting to see the wheels of justice turning.
WREG featured the murder of Alvin Powell in Manhunt Monday in July 2018, and one person stood in front of a judge Monday in connection to the crime.
Though it’s a start for justice for Powell, his family said there is still much to be done.
Loved ones of Powell, a father of five killed in April 2018, watched as 28-year-old Renika Morton, who was indicted this summer for facilitation to commit first degree murder, stood before a judge.
Morton was able to post a $50,000 bond, and she’s not sitting in a jail cell.
“Her continuing to be free and sleep in her comfortable bad and eat her delicious food while we’ve lost a family member, that’s just not right,” Valerie Robinson, the victim’s sister, said.
Powell was killed at the New Horizon apartments in Whitehaven. Morton is accused of luring Powell to the complex where an unidentified person killed him in an attempted robbery.
Right now Morton is the only one facing a charge. She didn’t have anything to say when asked about the case by WREG.
Monday wasn’t Morton’s first time before a judge in the case. When she appeared Monday, she was supposed to have retained an attorney, but that wasn’t the case.
The prosecution said she’s delaying and has had time to find an attorney. Meanwhile, Powell’s family is left heartbroken and frustrated.
“They keep giving her continuances and opportunities, and I realize that’s how the justice system works, but where is the justice for our brother?” Robinson said. “Where is the justice for him? Where is the justice for her husband? Where’s the justice for her father?”
Morton was given another week to find an attorney. She decline to comment when questioned by WREG if she will have a lawyer by then. She is set to be back in court next Monday.