Yellowhammer Times

Farley Pleads Guilty in 2020 Slaying/Arson of David Brian Hayes

Caleb Scott Farley, 22 years old, of 2001 County Road 22, Arley, Alabama has pled guilty to the Murder of David Brian Hayes and Arson 1st of the residence at 5954 Helicon Road.  Hayes’ body was discovered by firefighters responding to a house fire call at 5954 Helicon Road, Arley, Alabama in the morning hours of Saturday, December 19, 2020. 

“As I commented when this case first began, I would like to commend the investigators for their tireless work put into this case to bring the suspect to answer to the allegations. All the men and women involved in this investigation put in an extraordinary amount of time and effort over a holiday period to  bring the suspect to the judicial system to answer for the alleged actions” said District Attorney Scott Slatton. “I want to send a special thanks to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Agents from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Winfield Police Department, 24th District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division, Winston County Sheriff's Department and Fayette County Sheriff’s Department who sent manpower to assist in this investigation. Without their help we could very well still be looking at an unsolved crime,” Slatton continued.

The joint investigation was conducted by the 25th District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Winston County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators worked for 10 days putting a myriad of puzzle pieces together that led to Farley. 

Farley agreed to pled guilty and was sentenced to Life in prison for the charge of Murder and 20 years in prison for the Arson 1st Degree charge.   As a part of his plea Farley admitted to shooting Hayes and setting his house on fire to cover up the murder. Investigators and Hayes’ autopsy reveal he had been shot twice and was deceased prior to the arson. 

Sentencing was conducted by the Honorable Daryl Burt. Farley was sentence according to his agreement with the District Attorney's Office. Farley will be held in the Winston County Jail until his transfer to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Original source can be found here.