Former security guard Gregory Livingston's bid for a new trial was denied on Monday, months after being convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Alvin Motley Jr. during a 2021 confrontation at an East Memphis Kroger gas station, as reported by Action News 5. In the incident, which escalated over the volume of music from Motley's vehicle, Livingston, an employee of Allied Universal Security, shot Motley and later admitted to the act.
Shelby County Court Judge Chris Craft ruled against the petition for a new trial after Livingston, who is 57, was found guilty in May this year, while defense attorney Leslie Ballin argued that his client acted in self-defense and feared for his safety, the narrative unfolded through the much-contested trial. Local Memphis highlighted the prosecution's argument that Motley, with a beer and cigarette in hand, posed no threat to Livingston.
During the trial, video evidence displayed Motley, who was legally blind, approaching Livingston while holding a cigarette and a beer, before being fatally shot, according to court testimony, with Special Prosecutor Glenn Funk challenging any notion of Livingston's self-defense claim by asserting that Motley could not have been perceived as a threat, a detail Local Memphis included. Motley's girlfriend Pia Foster testified that he wished to resolve the confrontation like men but described Livingston's demeanor as hostile towards them.
Furthermore, despite a toxicology report revealing that at the time of the incident, Motley's blood alcohol level was .221 and he had traces of MDMA and marijuana in his system, no definitive correlation could be established between these substances and his behavior. Surveillance footage analyzed during the trial, captured the moment before Livingston discharged his weapon and the absence of any immediate aid rendered to Motley, as documented in the trial and reported by FOX13 Memphis. The denial of a new trial leaves Livingston facing a life sentence, the culmination of a tragic event that has resonated through the community and the court system.
