A judge has denied a request for a new trial for Kenneth Lee Simpson, the man convicted in the 2023 killing of a Hermann police officer.
A Franklin County jury found Simpson guilty in January of first-degree murder and assault in the shooting that killed Sgt. Mason Griffith and seriously injured Officer Adam Sullentrup.
Simpson’s defense had asked for a second trial, but that motion has now been rejected, keeping the original conviction in place.
Jurors previously recommended the death penalty. Simpson is set to be sentenced June 12, when a judge will decide between death or life in prison without parole.
Sgt. Griffith was killed in the line of duty, while Sullentrup survived after months of recovery.