Inset left: Arkeem Marshall (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: TiMira Pullom (Obituary). Background: The area near where Pullom was killed by Marshall (Google Maps).
An Alabama man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing the mother of his child – despite a desire to die at the hands the state.
On Thursday, Arkeem Marshall, 33, was convicted of capital murder for the September 2023 shooting death of TiMira Pullom, 28. Jurors in Jefferson County took just 15 minutes with that decision. But the problem of what to do with the convicted killer took hours longer.
In the end, the jury sentenced Marshall to life in prison without the possibility of parole – oblivious to the fact he wanted to be executed.
But his defense attorneys would not – and did not – make an affirmative case for having him put to death, according to a courtroom report of the tense and emotional day by AL.com.
The defendant, for his part, would not allow his attorneys to present an anti-death penalty case – provoking an attempt by those same attorneys to have their client subjected to a mental competency evaluation before going forward with the proceedings.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta Owens denied the request – noting Marshall had previously passed all competency tests – and setting the stage for silence on the defense’s part.
Defense attorney Paul McDaniel, at times speaking through tears, said his client’s orders were “tantamount to suicide.”
In lieu of an examination, the judge had the defendant speak with several loved ones – a brother, best friend, and cousin – before verifying the decision not to offer a final defense of his continued life.
Still, the proceedings went on in muted form.
When Owens asked McDaniel if the defense would be providing closing arguments, the public defenders answered in the negative.
“Mr. Marshall wants the death penalty,” McDaniel reportedly said, “and I’m not going to stand up there and say he wants the death penalty.”
Very little was contested in the case. Marshall admitted to killing Pullom – his attorneys disputed the capital murder charge which was pursued by prosecutors due to the fact that the shooting occurred in the same house as the then-couple’s toddler son.
That charge, however, stuck, due to the small size of the house on Pine Avenue South West in Birmingham – effectively meaning the child’s mother had been killed in his presence.
The victim’s mother offered a victim impact statement.
“There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t cried,” she reportedly said, according to AL.com and Birmingham-based Fox affiliate WBRC. “But I know I can cry and cry and cry, and she won’t come back in this lifetime.”
Some of the jurors and Marshall himself broke into tears while the elder Pullom took the stand.
When it came time for the killer himself to speak, he apparently made a choice geared toward his overall effort – asking for jurors to leave so he could apologize to the victim’s family in private.
“I took her daughter from her, and I took my son’s mama from him,” Marshall reportedly said. “I want to say I’m sorry. She did not deserve it. She deserved to be here with her child. She deserved to spend her life with her son.”
The little boy was 17 months old at the time his mother was slain by his father; he is 3 years old now and being raised by his grandmother.
On the day in question, Marshall and Pullom were in an argument about him moving out of her house – but remarkably close to a resolution.
The eventual killer had his bags packed and ready to go. But he could not find a ride. So, he waited for friends to show up later.
In the interim, however, the argument came up again.
One last time.
Fatally.
“She kept on yelling at me,” Marshall would eventually tell law enforcement. “I just snapped. I pulled the gun and shot her.”
In sum, six shots were fired; Pullom was hit four times.
The prosecutor in charge of the case excoriated the condemned man.
“TiMira Pullom had never been anything but kind to the defendant. She had never done anything but try to help the defendant,” Jefferson County Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Roberts said in a statement. “And how did this defendant repay her? By putting four bullets into her body, killing her while their 17-month-old son, Trent, was nearby.”
