Michael Reynolds was sentenced to death and remains on Alabama death row for a triple murder. According to court documents Michael Reynolds went to the victims home in order to obtain some money and would end up stabbing to death Chuck Martin, 38; his wife, Melinda, 31; and their 8-year-old daughter, Savanah. Michael Reynolds would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Michael Reynolds 2021 Information
| Inmate: | REYNOLDS, MICHAEL WAYNE |
| AIS: | 0000Z747 |
| Institution: | HOLMAN PRISON |
Michael Reynolds More News
Michael Reynolds was sentenced to death Thursday in the 2003 slayings of a North Gadsden family.
Etowah County Circuit Judge Allen Millican handed down the sentence. Reynolds showed no apparent remorse and explained he intended to appeal the verdict when Millican asked if he had anything to say.
Reynolds said he has asked for new attorneys and is appealing because of ineffective representation during the trial.
Jurors in October unanimously agreed to recommend that Reynolds be put to death. The same jurors convicted Reynolds of capital murder in the stabbing deaths of Chuck Martin, 38; his wife, Melinda, 31; and their 8-year-old daughter, Savanah, at the Martins’ home on Tidmore Bend Road on May 25, 2003.
Jurors apparently believed the testimony of Marcie West, Reynolds’ former girlfriend, who testified during the trial she and Reynolds went to the Martin home to get money and it was Reynolds who killed the family. West said Reynolds stabbed her when she tried to stop him from stabbing Melinda Martin.
Reynolds, however, testified and said he did not kill the family. He admitted to being at the house to try to cover up the crime for West, who, he said, witnessed the crimes.
Jurors heard forensic testimony about the 11 stab wounds to Chuck Martin and the struggle in his kitchen, along with details about the 24 stab wounds and the struggle Melinda Martin gave her attackers and the five wounds that killed Savanah Martin, including one stab that pierced her neck.
West was charged with hindering prosecution in 2003 after she destroyed evidence.
In handing down the sentence, Millican read a lengthy document that outlined the evidence in the case.
Millican said the killings were heinous and atrocious and the crimes fit the criteria for the death penalty. He pointed out that Reynolds killed the child as an afterthought to keep her from identifying her killer, Millican said.
District Attorney Jimmie Harp and Deputy D.A. Marcus Reid tried the case, and it was the first capital murder trial for both.
“We are pleased with the verdict and the sentence,” Harp said after the sentencing. “We felt the proper sentence was handed down, especially considering all the facts of the case. (Reynolds)
showed no remorse for his crimes.“
Harp said the work of the Gadsden Police Department and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences was outstanding, helping lead to the verdict and death sentence.
“The death penalty is reserved for the worst cases, and this certainly was the case here. We hope the family members of the Martins now can have some closure.”
https://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/DA/20071207/Sports/603208723/GT
