A local jury has acquitted a Cullman County man who stood trial this week on a murder charge stemming from a 2016 death in the Phelan community.

Windell Joe Campbell was found not guilty Wednesday in the court of Circuit Judge Martha Williams. Campbell, 62, was arrested and charged with murder in October of 2016, following the discovery of a body in response to a residential emergency call at an apartment home on County Road 625.

Responders found the body of the alleged victim, Edwin Lee Wood, at the scene. Wood had died of a gunshot wound; Campbell was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with murder, alongside a raft of drug offenses including unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of prescription medicine, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Campbell had appealed to judge Williams earlier this year for the right to pre-trial immunity under Alabama’s stand-your-ground defense law, but was denied that request last week. He had remained free after leaving the Cullman County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond on the murder charge.

Campbell’s defense was presented by the local law firm of Berry, Berry, Little, Brunner, & Chaney.