Madison County jury finds 23-year-old not guilty in 2019 murder of Granite City teen
A Madison County jury has found a 23-year-old laborer not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting death of a teenager in Madison.
Corion Mosley had spent more than two years in the Madison County jail before his trial this week in Edwardsville. He walked out Thursday evening and went home to his family.
“Mr. Mosley is eternally grateful to the jurors, who kept an open mind throughout the proceedings, listened to his story and ultimately exonerated him of all of these charges,” said his attorney, Patrick Sullivan, who had argued that his client acted in self-defense.
Mosley was tried on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. Two counts of attempted murder had been dismissed. Still pending is one count of possession of a weapon by a felon.
Sullivan’s firm, Pratt & Tobin in East Alton, recently was appointed as Madison County “special defenders,” which help with the workload of the public defender’s office.
Carmen Mosley, Corion Mosley’s mother, released a statement on Thursday night giving “honor to God,” expressing gratitude for the verdict and calling the situation “unfortunate for all of the families involved.”
“Attorney Patrick Sullivan and his team worked hard,” she stated. “Their true dedication and knowledge of the law proved that the evidence and testimony presented to the jury resulted in the acquittal of my son.”
Corion Mosley and his twin brother, Torion Mosley, were arrested July 10, 2019, for allegedly shooting and killing Omarion “Odie” Coleman, 15, of Granite City, and wounding a 16-year-old and 21-year-old, both males, on July 8 in the 1500 block of Fifth Street in Madison.
The Mosley brothers were each held on a $1 million bond.
Investigators determined that the violence stemmed from a social-media feud, but that Omarion, a student at Coolidge Junior High School, wasn’t part of it.
“This case progressed quickly because eyewitnesses on the scene helped,” Lt. Nick Novacich of the Granite City Police Department said at the time of the Mosley brothers’ arrest.
Novacich led the investigation by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.
The other two shot were Demarcus Redmond, Omarion’s cousin, and Kendall White, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One was hit in the stomach, and one was hit in the leg with a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Martisha Coleman, Omarion’s mother, spoke to the BND about her son’s death in 2019.
“Unless you are in this situation, you cannot know the pain it brings,” she said. “My child is dead. He was just 15 years old. It is senseless. He had his whole life to live.”
On May 25, Torion Mosley pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to six years in prison with credit for time served. The state’s attorney’s office dropped first-degree murder charges.
Corion Mosley’s trial started Monday at the Madison County Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville.
In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager told jurors that Mosley shot and killed Omarion for smarting off to him then turned his gun on the other two.
Defense attorney Sullivan described a scene where the two brothers were surrounded by a gang of hostile, possibly-armed youths and that Mosley was acting in self-defense.
“We had diametrically opposed theories of what happened,” Sullivan said Thursday night.
Sullivan praised the Major Case Squad and state’s attorney’s office for doing “an excellent job with the crime scene they had.”
“This was a tough case,” he said.
Both Mosley’s mother and Omarion’s mother attended the trial. The jury deliberated about six hours before reaching a verdict at 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
In late June, another Madison County jury found Willie L. Matthews Jr., 21, of Belleville, not guilty of first-degree murder. He had spent nearly 20 months in jail after being charged in connection with the shooting of his sister’s boyfriend on Nov. 3, 2019, in Granite City.
Matthews’ attorney, Robert Bas, also argued that he acted in self-defense.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
