Supreme court refuses to hear review of Etowah County death sentence case

Ronnie Lynn Kirksey

The Alabama Supreme Court has denied a request to review A Gadsden man’s conviction and death sentence.  The court notified Etowah County Circuit Judge David Kimberley on Friday that a request to review Ronnie Lynn Kirksey’s appeal had been denied. Kirksey was convicted in February 2010 and sentenced to death in the slaying of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old son, Cornell Norwood. The child died in April 2006. According to testimony at Kirksey’s trial, he told Gadsden police detectives that he hit and kicked the boy, then put one foot on the child and stood on him with all his weight. Medical testimony during the trial indicated Cornell suffered a skull fracture and traumatic injuries to his stomach, heart, lungs and diaphragm. His aorta had been torn and was bleeding freely. After Kirksey was convicted of capital murder and jurors were tasked with considering his punishment, it took only two hours for them to return and unanimously recommend the death penalty.