A Madison County jury deliberated for about an hour before convicting a 19-year-old Huntsville man of murder in the shooting death of a prostitute after an encounter in June 2013.

Dominick Everson will be sentenced Feb. 17 for killing Ezrhea Danyell Cherry in the early morning hours of June 2, 2013. Cherry was shot multiple times but managed to leave Everson's home and drive away.

Her car crashed near Hester Drive and Pulaski Pike and her body was found next to the car, about three blocks from Everson's house. Police initially thought she had died in the wreck, but soon discovered she'd been shot.

Everson testified that he shot Cherry after a sexual encounter because she pulled a gun on him and tried to rob him. He had initially told police two other men joined him in having sex with Cherry that night and one of them shot her over a dispute about money. The defense admitted that Everson's first story was a "total and complete lie."

Madison County Assistant District Attorney Melvin Lockett, who prosecuted the case with Assistant DA Tim Gann, said the jury's verdict showed they saw that "the defendant was a liar.

"He killed this girl and everything he did after that was trying to cover it up," Lockett said. "He went so far as to implicate two people who had nothing to do with it. That he was willing to implicate others showed the jury the lengths he was willing to go to avoid responsibility."

Everson told police he didn't have a gun, having sold it that night. Police later found a .25 caliber pistol and .25 caliber ammunition in Everson's bedroom.

They also only found DNA matching Everson's in the examination of Cherry's body.

Defense attorney Larry Marsili argued Everson had acted in self-defense and the state had the burden of proof to show that the killing was not in self-defense.

Lockett said the self-defense argument was challenging because there were only two witnesses to what happened that night - Everson and Cherry.

"It is almost impossible to disprove a negative, but there was no evidence she had a gun," Lockett said. "The other evidence pointed in the other direction."

Lockett said his first trial in Madison County Circuit Court trial was a robbery case involving Cherry, about six years ago, and she was acquitted. Today's conviction of Everson, for killing Cherry, was his first trial victory in Madison County Circuit Court.

"My first jury loss was in Ms. Cherry's case and my first victory in front of a jury was the man who killed Ms. Cherry, that makes me proud," Lockett said. "We care about all the citizens of Madison County and we'll do right by them, no matter their background."