'You blew Colby's face off': Man gets life for murdering Navarre dad over custody dispute

After three days, a Santa Rosa County jury found that an Alabama man fatally shot 24-year-old Colby Vinson in the face outside of his Navarre apartment.

Circuit Judge Clifton Drake promptly sentenced 55-year-old Jason Curtis to life in prison Thursday after a 12-member jury convicted him of the first-degree premeditated murder, a capital felony. Curtis shot Vinson on March 19, 2023, six days after Vinson won 50% partial custody of his 4-year-old daughter shared with Rachiel Moore.

"You are hereby sentenced to the Department of Corrections for a term of life in prison," Drake told Curtis. "You will be fingerprinted, and you will be remanded to the Department of Corrections where you will remain until your death."

Curtis was convicted of driving from his home five hours away in Cullman, Alabama, to Navarre with a .38-caliber Ruger to kill Vinson after a judge granted Vinson 50% custody of his daughter. Moore, who was previously Curtis' stepdaughter, had kept the child away from Vinson for a year, allowing no contact between the two.

Curtis fired a single shot into Vinson's face a mere hours after the 24-year-old picked up his daughter for the first time in a year.

Prior to sentencing, Vinson's family spoke to the court and provided the horrific insight into how their lives had changed since Curtis murdered the young father.

"You blew face Colby's face off right in front of his little daughter," Brad Minton, Vinson's stepfather, said to Curtis. "How is that helping a baby? It's not.

"She was left there with the door open screaming, 'My daddy, my daddy,'" he added. "And you just walked away."

Noah Valentine, Vinson's best friend, also took the stand and told the court how he's recovering from many psychological conditions since learning of his "brother's" death, saying he received the "worst call of his life" and had to quit his job and stopped eating.

'What a human piece of trash': Navarre man shot and killed next to his 4-year-old child.

Vinson's mother, Maegan Minton, told the court all her son wanted was to be a dad to his daughter, but now the nightmare of March 19, 2023, haunts her to this day.

"My son's last day on this earth plays in my head on repeat," she said through tears. "I can't escape it no matter what I do.

"The last text I'll ever receive from him reads, 'Thank you. We're both happy,'" she added, referencing the night Vinson picked up his daughter. "That was sent to me less than 30 minutes before his life was taken by Jason Curtis, Rachiel Moore and Christina Moore."

Rachiel Moore and her mother, Christina, are both charged with accessory after the fact of a capital felony and tampering with evidence in a criminal proceeding for allegedly helping Curtis carry out Vinson's murder on their behalf as payback for winning the partial custody battle.

Both are scheduled to appear in court June 4, according to court records.

Curtis elected not to speak prior to receiving his life sentence.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Navarre Colby Vinson's killer gets life over fatal custody dispute