Party City killer loses appeal

The man found guilty in the 2012 deadly armed robbery at the Party City store in Ridgeland recently lost an appeal with the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Joshua Leon Archie was sentenced in 2021 to life without parole for a capital murder charge and five years for conspiracy to commit a robbery charge. The state did not seek the death penalty.

The Court ruled 5-4 that Archie’s conviction be upheld.

The five justices ruling in the majority were Chief Justice Mike Randolph and Associate Justices Robert Chamberlin, James Maxwell II, Dawn Beam and Kenny Griffis.

The dissent included Presiding Justices Leslie King and James Kitchens, and Associate Justices Josiah Coleman and David Ishee.

Archie appealed that the jury should have been given alibi instructions when deliberating, which the dissenting justices agreed. The majority, however, ruled there was an overwhelming weight of evidence and not giving the jury instruction had no impact on the overall case. 

Archie also argued there was no reasonable doubt instruction, admittance of an unauthorized photo of Archie, and ineffective counsel.

Archie stood trial on three separate occasions, with the first two ending in a mistrial. 

The incident in question involved Archie and an accomplice, Undra Ward, in the murder of 68-year-old Party City Manager Bobby Adams in what law enforcement say was an inside job on Oct. 26, 2012.

Archie was a former Party City employee and is charged with murdering Adams on Oct. 26, 2012. Adams was closing the store he managed for 20 years that night when Archie allegedly burst through an unlocked back door. Officials say Adams attempted to grab the gun from Archie and was shot and killed in the process. 

Ward pleaded guilty in exchange for 45 years.