Mar. 28—RANDOLPH COUNTY — A man with an extensive criminal record has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after a jury convicted him in a fatal shooting outside a northern Randolph County home three years ago.

Michael Jared Medley, 41, was convicted of second-degree murder by a Randolph County Superior Court jury late last week in the shooting of William George Bennett, 34, who died at the scene of the shooting along Booker T. Womble Road in Randleman on March 28, 2020. The jury reached a guilty verdict on the only charge against Medley after deliberating 45 minutes following a four-day trial, Assistant District Attorney Campbell Bentson said.

Medley and Bennett were involved in an argument when Medley shot Bennett and drove away in a Ford Escape. Medley, who Bentson said was a transient, was arrested several days later by law enforcement officers in Stokes County, north of Winston-Salem.

Bentson said that prosecutors had three witnesses to the shooting who testified during the trial. The exact nature of the argument between Medley and Bennett wasn't determined.

Medley has a long criminal record dating back at least to 1998 that includes a charge and conviction in Guilford County, according to the N.C. Department of Adult Correction. In 2008 Meley was charged in Guilford County with attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, which was consolidated for judgment to assault with a deadly weapon.

Other charges brought in the past 25 years against Medley include assault on a female, assault by pointing a gun and a variety of narcotics-related offenses, according to department records. In addition to Randolph and Guilford counties, Medley has been arrested in Forsyth and Rockingham counties.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul