USA Death Row 2019

Clayton Antwain Shanklin is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. Included in his appeal: At that time, the individual wearing the ski mask fired the gun, hitting her in the upper thigh. The individual wearing the ski mask then gave the gun to the individual wearing the bandana, who then “put[ ] the gun in [her] face and pull[ed] the trigger three times”; the gun, however, misfired, and he passed the gun back to the individual wearing the ski mask. While the gun was in her face, Ashley noticed that the individual wearing the bandana had “[l]ight skin ․ [and] a scar on the right side of his face.” (R. 609.) After the individual wearing the bandana handed the gun back to the individual wearing the ski mask, Ashley began fighting the individual wearing the bandana, and Michael awoke and began yelling at the two individuals. According to Ashley, the two individuals also had in their possession “big and bulky looking” rocks, which, she said, appeared to be fro...

John Russell Calhoun is an inmate on death row in Alabama.  His appeal includes (see link below): The State's evidence tended to show that on May 8, 1998, Calhoun entered L.P.'s  and Tracy Phillips's home in Talladega 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...

Michael David Belcher is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. According to CBS 42 (see link) Michael Belcher was convicted in December of 2015 for the death of Samantha Payne. Her body was found one week after her death by hunters who discovered her in the forest near South Sandy Road. The warrant for Michael Belcher states that Payne may have been stabbed to death, court documents say. Investigators know that Payne and Belcher knew each other and were together a few days prior to her murder. His accomplice, Chylli Bruce was also charged in the murder. In total, five people were charged with this crime. Michael is the only one on death row. His victim was Samantha Payne You can write to Michael David Belcher at Michael David Belcher 0000z813 Donaldson Death Row 100 Warrior Lane Bessemer, AL 35023-7299 You can email Michael using Jpay - you will need to select Alabama and use the ID  0000z813 Resources ...

Ki-Jana Freeman Peter Capote  is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes (see link below): In early 2016 Thomas Hubbard was the leader of the gang Almighty Imperial Gangsters. That gang consisted of Hubbard,Capote, Benjamin Young, De'Vontae Bates, Austin Hammonds,Michael Blackburn, and Trey Hamm.O nFebruary 28, 2016,Hubbard's residence was burglarized. Several items were taken during the burglary, including Hamm's Xbox video-game console.Hubbard informed the gang that he was going to find out who had burglarized his house and kill him or her.  Hammonds and Bates learned that Ki-Jana Freeman was selling an Xbox in an online marketplace.  They suggested to Hubbard that Freeman might have been the person that had stolen Hamm's Xbox. The gang held a meeting and decided to kill Freeman if he was responsible for the burglary. The gang formulated a plan in which Hammonds would meet with Freeman to determine if the Xbox Freeman was selling...

Darryl D Turner is an inmate on death row in Alabama.  His appeal ( graphic ) includes (see link below) The State's evidence tended to show that on February 21, 1996, Angela Anderson discovered the nude body of her mother, Barbara Wilson, in Wilson's home in Limestone County.   The coroner testified that Wilson had been smothered to death.   There was evidence that intercourse had occurred before the victim's death.   Wilson's 1993 Cadillac automobile and a 19-inch Orion brand television were missing from her residence. Anderson testified that on February 21, 1996, she took her two-year-old daughter, Rosalyn, to stay with her mother while she accompanied a sick friend to a local hospital.   Later that same day Anderson attempted to locate her mother but was unsuccessful.   She testified that she was not worried because she thought that her mother might have gone to Nashville to visit Wilson's brother, who was sick.   Anderson testified that the ...

Anthony Eugene Brown is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: (see link below) Following the sentencing hearing before the trial court, the trial judge issued an order including a summary of the crime and Brown's participation in it.   The order summarized the facts of the offense as follows: “On June 19, 2000, Anthony Eugene Brown did cause the death of Virginia Keel, an eighty-three year old female, by strangling Mrs. Keel with a piece of cloth and by placing cloth as well as tape over her mouth and nostrils.   This offense occurred at 22 Trillium Circle, Apartment Number 1007, Dothan, AL., during the course of Anthony Brown unlawfully entering the residence of Virginia Keel. “Dothan Police Department Records indicate that on June 19, 2000, at approximately 10:56 a.m., the Communications Center received a ‘911 Call’ from Marisa Bowden at the Holiday Inn South, 2195 Ross Clark Circle, Dothan Al. Ms. Bowden reported that a black m...

Donald Deardorff is an inmate on death row in Alabama. His appeal includes: (see link below) Ted Turner was a minister of Unity Church, the father of two children, and a businessman who owned a warehouse and rental properties.   He disappeared in September 1999.   His decomposed remains were discovered in a remote area of Baldwin County in July 2001, after Deardorff's codefendant, Millard Peacock, cooperated with members of law enforcement investigating Turner's disappearance and led them to the body. The trial of this case spanned two weeks and involved many witnesses and exhibits.   The evidence occasionally conflicted, but the evidence presented at trial tended to establish the following.   Turner was 56 years old and had undergone knee surgery shortly before he disappeared in September 1999.   He was still required to wear a knee brace and his mobility was restricted, but he could walk and drive a vehicle. Beginning in 1998, Turner had leased a storag...

James Donald Yeomans is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: On January 20, 2000, James Donald Yeomans was indicted for four counts of capital murder for the November 22, 1999, deaths of his wife and her parents.   Specifically, he was charged with three counts of capital murder under § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Ala.Code 1975, for killing two or more persons during one course of conduct.   He was also charged with one count of murder during the course of a robbery, § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975, for killing Julie Ann Yeomans during the course of the theft of her purse and its contents, while using force against Julie and/or her parents.   Yeomans pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.   Pursuant to defense motions that were granted by the trial court, two mental-health experts conducted psychological evaluations of Yeomans.   After a jury trial, which began on March 26, 2001, Yeomans was convicted of all four ...

James Edward Barber is an inmate on death row in Alabama. His appeal ( graphic ) includes: “Based upon the physical evidence presented including photographs of Mrs. Epps, before and during the autopsy, photographs of the area of the home where Mrs. Epps' body was found, and based upon the videotaped confession of the Defendant, the Defendant first struck Mrs. Epps in the face with his fist, and at some point thereafter, obtained a claw hammer that he used to cause multiple blunt force injuries to Mrs. Epps which caused her death. “Dr. Joseph Embry, a medical examiner with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified as to his findings from the autopsy he performed on May 23rd, 2001. “Dr. Embry's examination of the body of Dorothy Epps showed injuries that he classified in several different categories:  bruises, cuts and fractures, bleeding over the brain, multiple injuries in hand and arms, rib fractures and bruising in the front of her body, ...

Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes The appellant, Jimmy L. Brooks, Jr., was convicted of four counts of capital murder in connection with the murder of 12-year-old William Brett Bowyer.   The murder was made capital (1) because it was committed during the course of a kidnapping in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975;  (2) because it was committed during the course of a robbery in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975;  (3) because it was committed during the course of a burglary in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Ala.Code 1975;  and (4) because Brett Bowyer was less than 14 years of age at the time of his death, see § 13A-5-40(a)(15), Ala.Code 1975.   Brooks was also convicted of attempted murder, a violation of §§ 13A-6-2 and 13A-4-2, Ala.Code 1975, robbery in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-8-41, Ala.Code 1975, and burglary in the first degree, a violation of §...

James Ben Brownfield is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes:  “At some time in the late evening hours of December 23, 2001, or the early morning hours of December 24, 2001, Brenda Whitehead McCutchin, Joshua Dewayne Hodges, and Latham Durwood McCutchin were murdered in their homes in Scottsboro, Alabama. At the time of their deaths, Brenda was forty-seven years old, Joshua was three years old, and Latham was sixty-four years old. “After consuming Xanax pills on the night of December 23, 2001, the twenty-seven year old defendant, James Ben Brownfield, Jr., became enraged with his sister, Brenda Whitehead McCutchin, over drugs and money. While Brenda and her grandson, Joshua Dewayne Hodges, were sleeping in their bed, the defendant decided to kill his sister and her estranged husband, Latham Durwood McCutchin. The defendant took a claw hammer into the room where Brenda and Joshua were sleeping and hit Brenda with it. When the defend...

Michael Brown is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal ( graphic ) includes: “The State's evidence tended to show the following.   On October 12, 2001, Ricky Kirkpatrick and his wife discovered the body of his 65-year-old mother, Betty Kirkpatrick, in her mobile home in Hueytown.   Her head was covered with a plastic bag and her throat had been cut.   A knife and a paper towel were lying on her chest.   Betty Kirkpatrick's purse and her gold 1986 Ford Thunderbird automobile were missing.   The forensic pathologist testified that Betty Kirkpatrick died of ‘asphyxia by strangulation and smothering.’  (R. 431.)   She also had bruises on her face and hands that, he said, were caused by blunt-force trauma. “Several witnesses testified that they saw Brown driving a gold Thunderbird around the time of the murder.   Alisha Spindlow testified that she saw Brown driving a gold Thunderbird and that he told her that he had killed Betty Kirkpatrick...

Mohammad Sharifi is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: Sharifi, an Iranian national, came to Huntsville in December 1998 on a six-month tourist visa.   Before the visa expired he married Sarah Kay Smith, an American citizen.   Following his marriage, Sharifi petitioned to change his immigration status from “tourist” to “legal alien.” Sarah and Sharifi separated in late 1999.   Thereafter, Sarah, accompanied by Derrick Brown, met with Sharifi's caseworker at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services).   As a result of that meeting, Sharifi's petition to become a legal alien was denied, and his immigration status was changed to “illegal alien,” because his tourist visa had expired. Sharifi purchased a .25-caliber pistol on December 6, 1999.   On December 13, 1999, Sharifi went to the apartment he had shared with Sarah and forced his way inside.   The Huntsville P...

Kenneth Eugene Billups is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: Stuart picked up Valladres at 3:00 p.m. and drove him to Billups's house.   When they arrived, Billups was waiting at the front door and directed Stuart to park his car in front of the garage.   Stuart wanted to stay outside and wait in the car while Valladres went inside, but Billups persuaded him to come inside the house.   Once in the house, Stuart and Valladres were escorted into the kitchen, where they sat at a table facing the wall.   Stuart and Valladres saw marijuana and a stack of cash on the kitchen table.   Billups and Charles Cooper, who were also seated at the table, began to smoke marijuana.   Stuart was offered marijuana, but he declined.   A few moments later, Billups's girlfriend, Catrina Robina, emerged from another part of the house and entered the kitchen from behind Stuart and Valladres.   Robina stated that she had “a headache,” while signaling f...

Mario Dion Woodward is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: “Montgomery police officer Keith Houts was on patrol in a neighborhood in north Montgomery on September 28, 2006, and he conducted a traffic stop at approximately 12:30 p.m. Shonda Lattimore testified that she was sitting on her porch when she saw a police officer begin to execute a stop on a gray Impala automobile being driven by a black man wearing a red hat. Lattimore testified that she saw the driver of the Impala reach down for something as the Impala and the police car, with its emergency lights on, passed by the end of her street, before they went out of sight. Soon after the cars passed out of her sight, she heard four or five gunshots fired. “During the traffic stop Officer Houts entered the license tag of the Impala into the mobile data terminal in his patrol car; the vehicle was registered to Morrie Surles. Officer Houts's patrol car was equipped with a video ...

Donald Dwayne Whatley is an inmate on death row in Alabama. His appeal included: The State's evidence tended to show the following: On the morning of December 29, 2003, Kenneth McCall, an employee of Austal Crosby Joint Venture, went to his work site under a bridge in Mobile and discovered the victim's body lying on the ground near the entrance gate to the work site. He telephoned emergency 911. The state medical examiner, Dr. Kathleen Enstice, testified that Patel died of “multiple traumatic injuries” that included numerous injuries to his head, neck, sternum, and shoulder. Dr. Enstice testified that the injuries to his face were consistent with a beating, that the injury to his neck was consistent with strangulation, and that the injuries to his upper body were consistent with having been run over by a vehicle. Patel's pants, Dr. Enstice said, were around his neck. Cigarette butts were found near the victim's body. DNA testing on one of the cigarett...

Justin White is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes ( graphic ): Vanessa left work around 6:00 p.m. and went to a funeral home because a friend had passed away. After leaving the funeral home, Vanessa drove to her apartment. She arrived at the apartment between 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. As she entered the apartment, she called out to Parker but received no response. At that point, Vanessa noticed that the apartment was in disarray. The cushions on the couch were misplaced, the telephone had been knocked from its base, and a coffee table had been knocked over. Vanessa then began to walk through the apartment and found Parker's body in a small hall area. Parker was nude from the waist down and her shirt was pulled up, exposing her breasts. Parker's blue jeans had been tied in a knot around her neck and used to strangle her to death. Upon finding Parker's body, Vanessa telephoned emergency 911. In response to Vanessa'...

 Jesse Earl Scheuing is an inmate on death row in the state of Alabama. His appeal includes: Potts parked the car a couple of blocks behind the Pak–a–Sak store. Scheuing walked to the store; he had the .38 caliber pistol in the back pocket of his pants. When Scheuing walked up to the store, Cook, who had to push a button to allow someone to enter the store, recognized Scheuing and allowed him in. Scheuing briefly spoke with Cook before asking where the restroom was. Scheuing had planned to put on a hockey mask he had with him while in the restroom, but, because Cook had recognized him, Scheuing decided not to use the mask. There were three customers in the store when Scheuing first entered, so he went into the restroom and waited until he heard them leave. After leaving the restroom, Scheuing walked to the counter where he talked with Cook about various topics. As they spoke about marijuana and the “munchies” 2 (State's Exhibit 96), Scheuing said that he was hun...

Dontae Callen Bernice Kelly Dontae Callen is an inmate on death row in Alabama. He was convicted of three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of his Aunt, and two of his cousins, one of which was a 12 year old girl. There was overwhelming evidence of his guilt. His crime was part of The First 48 Hours and After the First 48 Hours called Burning Rage. You can view this episode here . Address: Dontae Callen # 0000z791 HOLMAN DEATH ROW Holman 3700 Atmore, AL 36503-3700 You can email Dontae using Jpay - you will need to select Alabama and use the ID  0000z791 Links: Death row inmate convicted of stabbing aunt, cousins won’t have U.S. Supreme Court review 18-year-old charged in Birmingham killings Videos Notes If you have had experience with this inmate, we'd love to provide your experience, negative or positive. This can be done anonymously or not.If you are related to the victim, we would also include anything you have to...