Murder suspect Patrick Wesley Stallings slated for jury trial

Published 5:45 am Saturday, May 14, 2016

A Berlin man accused of murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend is slated to stand trial this month.

Barring a continuation or pleading, Patrick Wesley Stallings, 36, will face a jury for the alleged murder of Britni Lynn Champagne. 

Stallings’ trial is set for May 23 in the court of Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas. On Thursday, the Cullman County District Attorney’s office subpoenaed 15 people and entities in preparation for a jury trial.

Champagne, who was 32 at the time of her death, was killed in March of 2014 from a single shotgun blast to the abdomen. According to court records, she was shot inside Stallings’s residence in the Berlin community. 

A juvenile child was present in the home at the time of the shooting, according to law enforcement’s statement of probable cause.

That statement also alleges Stallings confessed to shooting Champagne during a cell phone conversation with law enforcement after he allegedly left the scene in the victim’s car. 

Stallings was located and arrested shortly after the incident. After taking him into custody, officers transported Stallings to Cullman Regional Medical Center “for a possible illegal drug overdose.” 

Court records indicate that law enforcement recovered “multiple used syringes, drug paraphernalia, the [alleged] offender’s wallet with a photograph of the victim and a 12-gauge shotgun, which is believed to be the weapon” used to shoot Champagne.

Judge Nicholas ordered a mental health evaluation for Stallings in June of last year. Stallings has pleaded Not Guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. He has remained in the Cullman County Detention Center since his arrest.