Taurus Carroll was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of another prisoner. According to court documents Taurus Carroll was already serving a life sentence for a previous murder when he would stab to death another prisoner at the St. Clair County Correctional Facility. Taurus Carroll would be convicted and sentenced to death.
Taurus Carroll 2022 Information
Inmate:
CARROLL, TAURUS
AIS:
0000Z629
Institution:
HOLMAN PRISON
Taurus Carroll More News
A 38-year-old twice-convicted killer will remain on Alabama’s Death Row following a ruling on his most recent appeal.
Attorney General Luther Strange today announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the capital murder conviction of Taurus Jermaine Carroll. Carroll was convicted in St. Clair County Circuit Court in September of 2012 for the murder of fellow inmate Michael Turner.
Turner was killed Sept. 14, 2009 at St. Clair County Correctional Facility. Testimony presented at trial showed Carroll accused Turner of taking his cell phone. Though Turner repeatedly denied the theft, Carroll stabbed him multiple times with prison-made knife made from part of an air conditioner vent.
Turner was stabbed 16 times in his head, neck and body. He died in the prison infirmary.
Authorities said Carroll told a correctional officer that he meant to kill Turner. He was arrested the following day by prison investigators.
Turner was serving time for a Montgomery County conviction on conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery first degree. He had been sentenced on Sept. 12, 2007 on the conspiracy charge, and July 17, 2008 on the robbery charge. He had served 2 years and 27 days of his sentences, which was due to end Aug. 17, 2010.
St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor prosecuted Carroll in Turner’s slaying. In 2012, Carroll was sentenced to death, and sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal. The Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued on Friday.
Carroll already was serving a Feb. 13, 1998 life without parole sentence out of Jefferson County for a murder. Carroll initially was sentenced to death in the 1995 murder of Betty Long in a Kingston laundromat. Long was shot in the abdomen, in front of her daughter, at the family’s laundry business. Ninety dollars was taken in the holdup, along with the daughter’s necklace.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Alfred Bahakel sentenced Carroll to death in 1997, but the Alabama Supreme Court later overruled Bahakel’s sentence. The appeals court said Bahakel didn’t give adequate weight to mitigating circumstances in the case. Carroll was 17 when he killed Long.
John Calhoun was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the sexual assault and murder. According to court documents John Calhoun would break into the victims home where he would sexually assault the woman and murder her husband. John Calhoun would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
John Calhoun 2022 Information
Inmate:
CALHOUN, JOHN RUSSELL
AIS:
0000Z673
Institution:
ST.CLAIR CORRECTIONAL FAC.
John Calhoun More News
The State’s evidence tended to show that on May 8, 1998, John Calhoun entered L.P.’s1 and Tracy Phillips’s home in Talledega and shot and killed Tracy Phillips. L.P. testified that on the evening of May 8 her neighbor telephoned her to tell her that there was a man looking in the windows of her house. L.P. told her husband, Tracy, and Tracy went to check outside. When Tracy returned to the house Calhoun, who was wearing a stocking mask over his face, was following behind him with a gun. L.P. said that she knew that the man in the mask was Calhoun because he had been to their house that day and she had also seen him when she had been posting signs earlier that day for a yard sale she was having. L.P. said that she ran upstairs to one of the bedrooms to hide her daughter and her daughter’s friend and locked the bedroom door behind her. Moments later, she said, Tracy yelled from behind the door that Calhoun had a gun to his head and that if she did not open the door John Calhoun would kill him. She complied and Calhoun entered the bedroom.
Tracy pleaded for their lives and offered him money and jewelry. Calhoun declined and told L.P. to take off her clothes, get on the bed, and spread her legs. L.P. complied. Calhoun pushed Tracy’s head between his wife’s legs, held the gun to the back of Tracy’s head, and pulled the trigger. The coroner testified that Tracy died of a gunshot wound to the back of his head, which severed his brain stem.
After shooting Tracy, Calhoun dragged L.P. downstairs, where he raped, sodomized, and beat her. She said that at one point she struggled with Calhoun for the gun, he became enraged, and he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire. Calhoun then raped her again and told her to get any money that she had upstairs. She refused to go back upstairs because her husband’s body was there, but she told Calhoun that she had jewelry in a downstairs bathroom. L.P. gave him some jewelry, he threw some of it down, and he left. L.P. then telephoned emergency 911.
A person matching Calhoun’s description was seen fleeing the murder scene. Neighbors also saw Calhoun’s car near the murder scene. One neighbor telephoned emergency 911. Police issued a “BOLO” for Calhoun’s vehicle. After police were unsuccessful in locating Calhoun’s vehicle, Charles Hedrick, a sheriff in the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department, went to the area where Calhoun’s mother lived and found Calhoun’s vehicle hidden in some bushes. The next morning police returned to the area and conducted an extensive search. Officer Wren Cooley of the Talladega Police Department spotted Calhoun in the area, pursued him on foot, but lost him. At one residence police obtained consent to search the homeowner’s house and discovered Calhoun hiding under a bed.
Jerry Bryant was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the kidnapping and murder of a man. According to court documents Jerry Bryant would pick up two men and they would drive around for a while. One of the men would get out of the car and the other stayed with Bryant. Jerry Bryant would rob and murder the man later on and dispose of the body. Jerry Bryant would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Jerry Bryant 2022 Information
Inmate:
BRYANT, JERRY DEVANE
AIS:
0000Z644
Institution:
HOLMAN PRISON
Jerry Bryant More News
On January 27, 1997, Donald Hollis and his cousin Bert Brantley drove from Newville to an Auto Zone automobile parts store in Dothan, where Brantley purchased transmission fluid sealer to repair his car. Brantley testified that he and Hollis left Newville in Hollis’s car at approximately 7:00 p.m. After leaving Auto Zone, at about 8:00 p.m., Hollis and Brantley were driving down Wheat Street in Dothan when they heard someone whistle at them. Brantley testified that Hollis turned his car around and then stopped, and that Jerry Bryant and another man, Ricky Vickers, approached the car. Soon after, Vickers left, and Hollis, Brantley, and Bryant had a conversation. According to Brantley, Bryant asked him and Hollis if they had been drinking, and Hollis said that they had not, but that he would go buy some beer. Bryant told Hollis to get the beer and to come back and pick him up in 30 minutes. After buying the beer, Hollis returned and picked up Bryant, and the three men drove around while Brantley and Bryant drank beer.
“Brantley testified that they drove to his house in Newville, where the three of them went inside, drank beer, and talked. Brantley said that Jerry Bryant mentioned doing some drugs, but that Hollis and Brantley told Bryant that they did not do drugs. The three men then left Brantley’s house and drove back to Dothan. After driving around Dothan for a while, Hollis drove Bryant back to the house where they had picked him up. Brantley testified that when they reached the house, Bryant did not get out of the car and that Bryant said he had something he wanted to talk to Hollis about. Hollis asked Bryant what it was, but Bryant did not say anything. Brantley further testified that he said he would turn his head and look out the window while Bryant talked to Hollis. Brantley said that he then heard a gasp, and when he turned back around, Bryant, who was in the backseat, was holding a gun to Hollis’s head. According to Brantley, Bryant said, ‘This is what it’s all about.’ (R. 458.) Bryant told Brantley to get out of the car. Brantley initially refused, but when Bryant became angry and said to him, ‘Nigger, get out of the car,’ Brantley got out of the car and stood beside the passenger’s door for several minutes. (R. 459.) Hollis then rolled down his window and told Brantley that he would be back in a few minutes. Hollis and Bryant drove off.
“Brantley testified that he waited around 10 minutes for Hollis to return, but that he got scared and walked to a service station down the road. Brantley used the telephone at the service station to call his sister to come and pick him up. Brantley also tried to reach Hollis by calling him on Hollis’s cellular telephone. Brantley testified that Jerry Bryant answered the telephone and told Brantley that Hollis was with Bryant’s brother. Bryant wanted to know where Brantley was so that he could come and get him. Brantley called Hollis’s cellular telephone several more times; each time he got Bryant. Brantley told Bryant that he was going to telephone the police, and Bryant said that he did not want any trouble. Brantley’s sister then arrived to pick Brantley up, and they telephoned the police.
“Ricky Vickers testified that on the evening of January 27, 1997, he saw Bryant leave with Hollis in Hollis’s car. Vickers testified that later that same night Jerry Bryant returned to his house in Hollis’s car, but that Bryant was alone. Vickers later went riding with Bryant in the car, and Bryant told Vickers that Hollis was with a friend of Bryant’s. Bryant and Vickers went to ‘Mickey’s,’ a nightclub. When Bryant and Vickers left the club, the police were standing around Hollis’s car. Vickers walked off, and Bryant picked him up several blocks away from the club in Hollis’s car. Vickers testified that Bryant had said he wanted him to help him do something. Vickers stated that Bryant told him that Bryant had done something, and that he ‘had to kill the victim.’ (R. 524.) Vickers testified that Bryant had a gun and told him that if he did not help him, he was ‘going to do Vickers.’ (R. 526.) The two men then went back to Vickers’s house, where they each got a pair of gloves. Bryant then drove to where Hollis’s body was located. Vickers testified that after Bryant put some clothes and towels in the trunk of Hollis’s car, they put Hollis’s body in the trunk.
“Vickers testified that he and Jerry Bryant drove to Greenwood, Florida, to the home of Raymond Mathis. Mathis rode around with Bryant and Vickers in Hollis’s car, and Bryant and Mathis discussed selling Hollis’s cellular telephone. According to Vickers, Mathis said that he knew someone who would give them crack in exchange for the cellular telephone. After Bryant traded Hollis’s cellular telephone for crack, the men returned to Mathis’s house, and Bryant told Mathis that there was a body in the trunk. Bryant wanted to know where he could dump the body. Bryant, Vickers, and Mathis left Mathis’s house, drove down a dirt road, and dumped Hollis’s body. Bryant and Vickers then drove to Tallahassee, Florida, where they tried unsuccessfully to sell Hollis’s car. Bryant and Vickers returned to Dothan, and abandoned Hollis’s car, after cleaning the inside and wiping away any fingerprints. Vickers testified that they then looked for the ‘other guy’ (Brantley) because Bryant believed that Brantley could identify him. According to Vickers, Bryant planned to kill Brantley. Raymond Mathis testified to essentially the same facts as did Vickers.
“Lori Ann Andrews, Bryant’s girlfriend, testified that on January 29, 1997, Bryant and Vickers arrived at her apartment in a black car that she had never seen before. Bryant asked her if she would pick him up at his mother’s house in a few minutes. Bryant and Vickers left, and Andrews picked Bryant up as he had requested, and they went back to her apartment. Andrews further testified that the police came to her apartment to arrest Bryant that evening, and that when they knocked on the door, Bryant tried to give her a set of keys. The keys were later identified at trial as belonging to Hollis.
“Testimony at trial further revealed that a bloodstain on Bryant’s blue jeans was consistent with a mixture of Bryant’s blood and Hollis’s blood. Bloodstains found inside the trunk of Hollis’s car and on the bumper and taillight of the car were consistent with Hollis’s blood.
“In his statement to police, Jerry Bryant initially denied any involvement in Hollis’s murder. However, he eventually admitted to being with Hollis in Hollis’s car, but he claimed that Hollis left with a ‘guy named Terry Johnson’ and that he let Bryant use his car. Bryant said that he saw Johnson later that night and that Johnson had asked him to move Hollis’s body. Bryant stated that he agreed to do it for a substantial amount of cocaine, and he got Vickers to help him dump the body in Florida. Bryant denied shooting Hollis, but said that he was with Johnson when Johnson shot Hollis. When giving his statement, Bryant was asked why it took so many shots (three shots to the head) to kill the victim. According to testimony from the police officer taking the statement, Bryant said ‘Man, I don’t know, I think I need help. Sometimes I am just not Jerry.’ (R. 788.) According to the officer, Bryant then put his head down, covered his ears, and refused to talk anymore.”
Wakilii Brown was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murders of his girlfriend and her mother. According to court documents Wakilii Brown would beat to death the two women using what was believed to be a hammer. Wakilii Brown would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Wakilii Brown 2022 Information
Inmate:
BROWN, WAKILII
AIS:
0000Z752
Institution:
HOLMAN PRISON
Wakilii Brown More News
A Talladega County man who was convicted of capital murder has been sentenced to death.
Circuit Judge Bo Hollingsworth sentenced Wakilii Brown, 32, to die by lethal injection for the murders of his girlfriend, Cherae Jemison, 26, and her mother, Dotty Jemison, 49.
Brown has continued to maintain his innocence and told the court he wasn’t guilty before he was sentenced Monday.
Talladega County District Attorney Steve Giddens said he was pleased with the sentence although some of the victims’ family members asked the judge that Brown be given life without parole.
Brown’s attorneys said they plan to appeal.
Brown was convicted of beating the women to death at the home they all shared in Sylacauga in March 2001. The women were struck multiple times in the head with what appeared to be a hammer.
Donald Broadnax was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murders of his wife and her grandson. According to court documents Donald Broadnax who was serving a ninety nine year prison sentence for murder was on work release when he would beat to death his wife and her four year old grandson. Donald Broadnax would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Donald Broadnax 2022 Information
Inmate:
BROADNAX, DONALD
AIS:
0000Z620
Institution:
HOLMAN PRISON
Donald Broadnax More News
The evidence tended to show the following. In April 1996, Donald Broadnax, who had been convicted in 1978 for murder and who was serving a sentence of 99 years’ imprisonment, was residing at a work release center in Alexander City and working at Welborn Forest Products in Alexander City. In 1995 Broadnax married Hector Jan Stamps Broadnax, who at the time of the marriage had a three-year-old grandson, DeAngelo Stamps. Broadnax and Jan were having marital problems and Broadnax believed that Jan was partially responsible for a recent denial of parole. The evidence indicated that after 6:00 p.m. on April 25, 1996, Jan and DeAngelo delivered food to Broadnax at his workplace. Johnny Baker, an inmate at the work release center and Broadnax’s coworker at Welborn, testified that he saw Broadnax driving Jan’s car at Welborn that evening. 2 According to Baker, Donald Broadnax stopped to talk with him and he saw a child in a child’s safety seat in the backseat. Baker testified that he was ‘pretty sure’ the child was alive when he talked with Broadnax.3
“At approximately 10:45 p.m. that same night, Mark Chastain, a [supervisor] at Welborn, found Broadnax inside a building while securing the building for the night. Chastain testified that he told Broadnax that the alarm had been set and that they had to exit the building. According to Chastain, when he asked Broadnax why he was still in the building, Broadnax stated that the work release van had dropped him off․ 4
“Kathy Chastain, Mark Chastain’s wife, testified that while she was outside the building waiting for her husband to secure the building, she saw an individual matching Broadnax’s description get out of a [white King-cab pickup truck] and run into the building.
“On April 25, 1996, Robert Williams and his wife were living across the street from a house in Birmingham that had in the past been used as a ‘crack-house’ and for prostitution. On that evening as Williams and his wife left their house at approximately 8:20 p.m., they noticed no cars were parked at the house across the street. When they returned at approximately 8:50 p.m., they saw a white Dodge Aries automobile parked behind the house. Because of the previous illegal activities occurring at the house, Williams telephoned the police and reported the presence of the car.
“Alondo McCurdy and Donna Smith, officers for the Birmingham Police Department, responded to the call and arrived at the residence at approximately 9:00 p.m. When they approached the parked car, they noticed blood on the ground behind the car and on the bumper. Based on their observations, they immediately radioed their supervisor and the paramedics, and secured the scene. It was later determined that the car belonged to Jan Broadnax.
“When the paramedics arrived, they opened the locked trunk and found the bodies of Jan and DeAngelo in the trunk. Both Jan and DeAngelo had been beaten. According to Dr. Robert Brissie, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies on the victims, blunt-force trauma, which could have been caused by the use of a piece of lumber such as the one found in the trunk with the bodies, caused the deaths of Jan and DeAngelo.5
“On April 27, 1996, Lawrence Hardnette, an inmate resident at the work release center in Alexander City, found a work uniform that did not belong to him stuffed under his bunk. At about the same time, James Smith, another inmate resident of the work release center, found a pair of Red Wing brand work boots under his bunk. The uniform and the boots were turned over to the supervisors and were later identified as belonging to Broadnax. Broadnax was the only one at the work center who wore Red Wing work boots; there were also identifying marks on the work uniforms indicating that the uniforms had been issued to Broadnax. When the work uniform and the boots were examined, bloodstains were found on the uniform [and the boots]. The analysis of the bloodstains [on the uniform] indicated that the deoxyribonucleic acid (‘DNA’) in these bloodstains matched the DNA of Jan and DeAngelo.6
“On the grounds at Welborn near a finishing products storage facility, employees found an earring that matched an earring found on the rear floorboard of Jan’s car. The evidence appeared to indicate that Jan was killed at Broadnax’s workplace in Alexander City, that her body was placed in the trunk of the car, and that the car was driven to Birmingham. Officer Vince Cunningham of the Birmingham Police Department testified that while conducting the investigation, he traveled from the location where the bodies were found in Birmingham to Broadnax’s workplace in Alexander City [several times and determined that the drive time was no more than one and one-half hours]. [Thus, a]ccording to Cunningham, Broadnax could have easily traveled the distance between the two locations within the time frame set out by the evidence.”
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