Jimmy O'Neal Spencer, 52, has been charged with murdering three people in Guntersville, Alabama on July 13

A homeless convict has been charged with robbing and brutally murdering a seven-year-old boy, his great-grandmother and another woman, Alabama police say.

Colton Ryan Lee and his great-grandmother, Marie Ann Martin, 75, were found dead at Martin's home in Guntersville, Alabama, on July 13.

Police say the elementary-schooler had died from blunt force trauma and Martin was strangled and stabbed.

At a home across the street 65-year-old Martha Reliford was found dead the same evening, having been stabbed and hit with a hatchet.

Both of the homes on Mulberry Street had been robbed after the killings.

Police have charged 52-year-old Jimmy O'Neal Spencer, a homeless man with a long rap sheet who had been released from prison in January, in connection with all three murders.

Colton Lee Ryan, seven, and his great-grandmother Marie Ann Martin, 75, were brutally murdered in Martin's home. Another woman who lived across the street was also murdered

Colton lived with his mother Huntsville but had been visiting Martin's home, above

Colton lived in Huntsville with his mother Tiffany Lee and his older brother, but had been visiting his great-grandmother when the murders took place.

He has been described as a 'sweet blessing' who was born three months after his father died in 2010.

A GoFundMe page set up to help cover his funeral costs has already raised $2,635 as of Monday morning.

The seven-year-old is survived by his mother, brother and grandparents. His great-grandmother Martin is survived by her son, as well as siblings and great-grandchildren.

Colton lived in Huntsville with his mother Tiffany Lee, above, but had been visiting his great-grandmother the night the murders occurred

The elementary-schooler described as a 'sweet blessing' is pictured with his dogs

Spencer has been charged with two counts of capital murder during a robbery, one count of capital murder for killing two or more people and one count of capital murder for killing a person younger than 14.

The 52-year-old has reportedly spent the majority of his adult life in prison, beginning in July 1984 when he was sentenced to a year for third-degree burglary.

Ten years were added to his sentence after he escaped from prison in September of that year. In May 1985 he escaped again and was slapped with another 10 years.

Spencer was paroled in July 1988, but landed back in jail the following January after a judge sentenced him to life in prison for a violent second-degree burglary.

In March of 1993, Spencer escaped a third time. He was caught two months later and was convicted of breaking and entering a vehicle along with third-degree burglary during his escape.

Two more 16-year sentences were added to the life sentence as a result.

He was slapped with an additional 15 years for assaulting an inmate, according to corrections officials.

Spencer has spent the majority of his adult life in prison, mainly for violent burglary offenses

When Spencer came up for parole in 2013, one of his burglary victims and Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing both wrote letters asking that the repeat offender be kept behind bars.

Rushing said he was 'sickened' when he heard Spencer's name mentioned in connection with the triple murder this month because he did not know that he'd been released in January.

'The name immediately struck a chord,' Rushing told ABC31. 'I was like: "I wrote a letter on him and he shouldn't be out."

'I was mad all over again that a small child is a victim of somebody who should still be in prison and still serving his life sentence.'

Rushing said he hopes this tragedy will lead the state parole board to be more careful about who is allowed back into the community.