BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A convicted murderer is back in custody Wednesday after he was released on bond by the Jefferson County Jail in relation to a domestic violence case he is facing.
Stephon Jerrod Joseph was indicted March 12, 2021 by a Jefferson County grand jury on capital murder and robbery charges in the Aug. 27, 2019 beating death of 77-year-old David Clifton Harper. According to the indictment, Joseph struck Harper with a blunt object during a robbery of his credit cards, vehicle and other property.
On March 20, 2026, Joseph pleaded guilty before Circuit Judge David Carpenter to a reduced charge of murder. Carpenter sentenced him to 21 years in prison. Related charges, including the original capital murder count, burglary, theft and escape, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
A second, separate case
At the same time his murder case was moving through the Bessemer Division, Joseph was also facing two domestic violence charges in 2024 case in the Birmingham Division, under Judge Kandice Pickett. The two divisions operate out of separate courthouses, with separate judges and separate clerk’s offices…