NAACP Vigil Supports Georgia Inmate

Supporters of a man convicted of murder in Georgia plan to hold a prayer vigil in Wilson tonight.

John McNeil sits today in a Georgia prison. He killed a man he said threatened him and his son at his home in 2005. McNeil was sentenced to life in prison nine months after the incident. The jury went against what police found

North Carolina N-double-A-C-P president William Barber notes a Georgia Superior Court judge recently agreed with those detectives, saying "They investigated it -- two senior detectives -- and determined it was self defense." Barber and other supporters are asking Georgia's attorney general to release McNeil within a month. But Barber says the state of Georgia does have other options.

Barber continues, "They could decide to appeal it but if they do that, it goes to the Supreme Court in Georgia. Or they could decide to try John again."

Barber says tonight's vigil is as much about supporting McNeil's family in Wilson as it is about backing McNeil.