Purvis, MS – 15th Circuit Court District Attorney Hal Kittrell announces that Joshua Miller was re-sentenced to Life without the possibility for parole for the murder of Kristin Aultman. This murder occurred on August 18, 1996. Miller was found guilty at trial in 1997 and sentenced to Life without the possibility of parole. A 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case, Miller v. Alabama, required the trial court to conduct a re-sentencing hearing to determine whether Miller should be sentenced to Life with the possibility of parole due to the fact that Miller was a minor at the time of the murder. Judge Prentiss Harrell conducted that hearing on July 31, 2018. The hearing was handled by Assistant District Attorneys Doug Miller and Lauren Harless on behalf of the State. Judge Harrell carefully weighed the evidence presented and found that Miller should not be parole eligible.
District Attorney Hal Kittrell states, “Our hearts break for the Aultman family. They have been forced to re-live, yet again, the violent, needless death of their thirteen year old daughter. We can only hope this will be the last time they have to go through this. We are very pleased with this ruling.”