WPSD says a Benton jury found Aaron Dripps guilty of murder in the shooting death of Stephen Odom.

Guilty of murder is the count the jury found. Not guilty of unlawful imprisonment is a separate count. A recommendation of 45 years is not the sentence. WPSD says sentencing is set for 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 12 and does not print a year. The judge sets that term. A handgun charge is still waiting on another court date. Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Foust said he would not pursue other charges. That is not a printed dismissal.

WPSD Local 6, by Melanie Antonitis, is dated Nov. 6, 2026, and updated Nov. 6, 2026. Neither stamp prints a clock. The dateline is BENTON, Ky. The opening says a jury found Aaron Dripps guilty of murder and not guilty of unlawful imprisonment Friday afternoon after a trial lasting three days. Friday afternoon, on a story dated Nov. 6, 2026, is the day the page gives for the verdict. Guilty of murder, and not guilty of unlawful imprisonment, are not the same count. WPSD says Dripps was accused in the shooting death of Stephen Odom, 51, at a Hardin home in January 2024. Accused, in that sentence, is not the verdict. The verdict sentence is the jury's finding. The page does not print a day in January, a street, or Dripps's age. It does not print a county.

The jury recommended Dripps be sentenced to 45 years in prison. Recommended is the word WPSD prints. Sentencing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 12. The page does not print a year on that date. Nov. 6, 2026, is the story date, so the Jan. 12 it prints falls in 2027. WPSD does not print 2027. A recommendation is not the sentence. The judge sets it, and WPSD says that hearing is scheduled. It does not print the judge's name. Another court date will be set for the possession of a handgun by a convicted felon charge. Will be set is not a date. That charge is not the murder count, and it is not the unlawful-imprisonment count the jury rejected. Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Foust said he would not pursue Dripps's other charges, including drug charges and terroristic threatening, after securing the murder conviction. Would not pursue is not a dismissal the page prints. Drug charges, and terroristic threatening, are the examples WPSD gives. It does not name a drug. Securing the murder conviction is the clause WPSD uses for what Foust said. The jury's finding, in the opening, is guilty of murder.

Odom's family shared a statement with WPSD reporters after the trial. WPSD printed: "We are happy to receive a guilty verdict. We appreciate everyone's thoughts, prayers and support." The statement is the family's. It is not the sentence. The 45-year figure is a recommendation. The murder finding is the jury's verdict on that count. The handgun charge is still a charge, and the other counts Foust said he would not pursue are not described as dismissed. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.