Salem man arrested on murder charges

BEAUREGARD, AL (WTVM) - On Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested 27-year-old Solomon Jamall Barnett of Salem, AL on outstanding warrants for murder, robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, and theft of property in the first degree.

Barnett, who was already incarcerated in the Lee County Detention Facility on other charges, has been formally charged with murder and is being held on a $277,000 combined bond total.

His arrest comes after the investigation revealed evidence linking him to the beating and shooting death of Garvin Albertson.

On Aug. 22 at approximately 3:16 p.m. CT, the Lee County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from two citizens reporting a possible suicide at a residence in the 100 block of Lee Road 40 located in the Beauregard community. The callers stated that they had gone over to check on their neighbor and friend after being unable to reach him by phone.

Lee County Sheriff's Deputies and Emergency Medical Personnel responded to the residence and discovered the deceased body of 75-year-old Garvin John Albertson on the floor in his bedroom.

Albertson had suffered what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to the abdomen and other injuries to include multiple lacerations consistent with blunt force trauma to the head. The manner of his death was determined to be murder.

Albertson, a retired military man, lived alone and the preliminary investigation supports robbery as a possible motive for this crime. According to friends, Albertson was last seen alive the night before his murder around 6 p.m. the day before.

His body has been sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for a post mortem examination which revealed that the cause of death was a combination of blunt force trauma and a gunshot injury.

This murder case is still under investigation and other arrests are expected.

If you have any information about this case please contact the Lee County Sheriff's Office at (334)-749-5651 or Lee County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-555-7847.

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