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Parole Denied for 16 Violent Offenders, Granted for 2 | Jan. 29, 2020

Montgomery, Al. –  The Alabama Board of Pardons denied parole Wednesday to 16 violent offenders and granted  parole to two. Those denied parole included seven murderers, one convicted of manslaughter, two convicted of attempted murder, and one sex offender.

Parole hearings for Wednesday, Jan. 29:

  • PAROLE DENIED: Annette Belisle was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for murder in Marshall County. She has served nearly 18 years of the term. The Gadsden Times reported she was allowed to plead guilty to felony murder rather than being tried for capital murder in exchange for testifying against her husband in his capital murder trial for the same crime. The victim, a cashier at T&J Kwikway in Boaz, died from a blow to the head during a robbery, the newspaper reported Oct. 17, 2003. Belisle’s husband Rick was sentenced to death in the case. Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals records show that the Belisles “were in desperate need of money” when they planned to burglarize the store. The victim was “viciously attacked … with a large can of peas and a metal pipe,” the court records showed. “The victim endured extreme pain and suffering before she died.” After the murder, court records show, the Belisles fled to Missouri, where they were caught. The sister of the victim testified Wednesday “My mother grieved herself to death” after the murder. The victim’s son said the Belisles “left her to die on a concrete floor. A representative of the attorney general’s office called it a “horrible murder.”
  • PAROLE DENIED: Billy Ray Hill is a convicted murderer, three-time convicted robber and two-time convicted burglar. Hill was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for murder and first-degree robbery in Geneva County. He has served 25 years, nine months of the life sentence. WTVY TV in Dothan reported on June 14, 2004 that the elderly victim’s “bludgeoned body was found inside his Samson home. An autopsy indicated that (the victim) was beaten to death with a hammer.”  The previous year, he was convicted of third-degree robbery and sentenced to 30 years. In 1990, Hill was convicted of seven crimes; first-degree robbery, two counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of theft of property, and escape, all in Geneva County. He was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for those crimes. Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL) opposed parole, and the attorney general’s office testified that Hill is a “very violent person” who has committed 16 disciplinary infractions in prison, including multiple assaults on other inmates.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Michael Anthony Blair was sentenced in 2000 to 35 years in prison for murder in Jefferson County. He has served 20 and a half years of the sentence. An attorney for Blair testified Wednesday that the murder was the result of gang-on-gang violence and that Blair has matured in prison. But the attorney general’s office testified that Blair has committed 53 disciplinary infractions in prison, including “a lot of indecent exposures.” One of his disciplinary citations came just last week. “He has taken his history of violence and brought it into prison,” an attorney general’s representative said.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Emanuel James was a co-defendant with Michael Anthony Blair in the gang murder in Jefferson County. He was sentenced in 2000 to 25 years in prison.  He has served under 19 years, nine months of the sentence. James has committed 36 disciplinary infractions in prison, including a half dozen assaults on other prisoners.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Eric Dewayne Brown is a convicted murderer and two-time armed robber.  He was sentenced in 2001 to 25 years in prison for the murder and the two first-degree robberies in Jefferson County. He has served about 19 and a half years of the 25-year sentence. Brown also was convicted in 2012 of conspiring to “commit certain felonies” in Elmore County and sentenced to two years. The twin sister of the victim testified “Every day I’m missing her. … It has destroyed my life.” The husband of the victim urged the parole board not to grant parole, saying that Brown committed crimes “over and over” and “if he gets out, he’s not going to stop.” A representative of VOCAL called it “a very brutal murder.” The attorney general’s office reported Brown has committed 13 disciplinary infractions in prison and called the murder “heinous.”
  • PAROLE DENIED: Jerry Louis Martin was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison for murder in Madison County. He has served 26 years of the prison term. Martin also was convicted of theft of property in Limestone County and sentenced in 2011 to 12 years. A Huntsville Police Department investigator testified in opposition to parole, saying Martin shot his victim six times and then fled the scene.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Jimmie Eugene Wyatt is a convicted murderer who beat his own six-week-old son to death, testimony at Wednesday’s hearing showed. Wyatt also was convicted twice of assault. He is serving a life sentence for murder handed down in 1993 in Montgomery County. The daughter of the victim’s mother testified “my mother has suffered the loss of her son every single day.” She said she could “not wrap my head around why a father would murder his own child.” The attorney general’s office reported Wyatt has continued his violent behavior in prison, committing 18 prison disciplinary infractions, 10 of them involving violence.” Wyatt served sentences of six months and two years, respectively, for a 1990 second-degree assault in Cleburne County and a 1995 second-degree assault in St. Clair County. He has served 27 years of his life sentence for murder.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Colt Mandell Walters was sentenced in 2009 to 20 years in prison for a 2003 conviction for attempted murder in Montgomery County. He has served 15 years, seven months of the 20-year sentence. Testimony Wednesday showed Walters was granted probation for the crime but violated the terms of his probation and was sent back to prison. The attorney general’s office testified that Walters shot his victim multiple times and left him. He has committed 22 disciplinary infractions in prison, including 13 in the past five years and three in 2019 alone, the attorney general’s office reported.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Larry Larkin Henderson was convicted of attempted murder and first-degree robbery in Madison County in 1987 and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He has served 32 years of the sentence. The victim in the attempted murder was a Huntsville police officer.
  • PAROLED DENIED: Joshua Andrew Phillips was sentenced in 2012 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter in Marshall County. He has served about seven and a half years of the 20-year term. WAFF Television in Huntsville reported Nov. 1, 2010 that Phillips was originally charged with murder after his vehicle struck and killed a man who was standing in his yard. WAFF reported Sept. 5, 2012 that the man Phillips killed was his wife’s ex-husband. “Prosecutors said Phillips drove to a mobile home where his wife was and got into an argument” with the victim, the TV station reported. “That’s when he ran over him with his truck just outside of the home.” The family of the victim has a Facebook page opposing parole. Grieving family members of the victim attended the hearing to oppose parole for Phillips. “He tried multiple times to kill my brother,” the brother of the victim testified. The victim’s mother noted “life will go on for (Phillips.) My son did not deserve to die.” The victim’s daughter said, “After he killed my dad, he went and bragged.” The victim’s sister testified Phillips “chased him and ran him over. He told numerous people he was going to kill my brother.” VOCAL opposed parole, and the attorney general’s office noted Phillips has committed 12 disciplinary infractions while in prison, three in 2019 alone.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Tommy Fred Bowen is a two-time sex offender. He was convicted of first-degree rape in Russell County in 1995 and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Less than a year later, Bowen was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in Lee County and sentenced to 17 years. He has served 25 years of the 35-year sentence.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Michael Darnell Carter was sentenced in Nov. 2017 to eight years in prison for a 2013 third-degree robbery in DeKalb County, and two months later was sentenced to eight years for distribution of illegal drugs. Carter has served less than two and a half years of the eight-year prison sentence. Carter also was sentenced in 2008 in DeKalb County to four years for another drug conviction. Quadcitiesdaily.com reported Carter was arrested on Dec. 23, 2017 in Fort Payne for drug possession, drug paraphernalia and escape. Public records show he was granted probation at one point but violated the terms of his probation.
  • PAROLE GRANTED: Jeffie Lee Gable was sentenced in 2008 to 20 years in prison for first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in Mobile County. He has served about 11 years, nine months of the sentence. The sister of the inmate testified “I want him to get out and get a fresh start.” The district attorney’s office in Mobile opposed parole, calling Gable “a danger to the community.”
  • PAROLE GRANTED: Quintion Deval Lee was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years for first-degree robbery in Tuscaloosa.
  • PAROLED DENIED: Wali Haseeb was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison for first-degree burglary in Mobile County. He has served 25 years, nine months of the life sentence. A representative of the Mobile district attorney’s office testified that Haseeb attacked the burglary victim and left her eye socket and skull fractured. The attorney general’s office reported that Haseeb has committed 25 disciplinary infractions in prison, including multiple assaults. “He has remained violent in custody,” an attorney general’s representative said.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Jody Ray Burell is a violent offender serving time for theft.  Burell was out of prison on parole from a robbery sentence when he was convicted in March 2019 of committing more crimes – two counts of theft of property in Tuscaloosa County — and sent back to prison for five years. He has served less than one and a half years of that sentence. Burell was convicted of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in Tuscaloosa County in 1994 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he was paroled from that sentence in 2013.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Cedric Lee Manora was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison for first-degree robbery and seven years for distribution of a controlled substance, both in Tuscaloosa County. He has served less than 11 years of the 25-year sentence. The attorney general’s office testified that Manora committed four prison disciplinary infractions in 2019 alone.
  • PAROLE DENIED: Jonas Jermaine Smith is a convicted robber and burglar who was granted probation three times but continued to commit crimes. Smith most recently was sentenced, in May 2018, to 10 years in prison for third-degree burglary and receiving stolen property, both in Houston County. He has served about two years, three months of the 10-year prison sentence. On Nov. 28, 2017 he was cited for violating probation three times and sent back to confinement for 45 days. Two years earlier, he had been given three one-year sentences for two drug convictions and criminal possession of a forged instrument, all in Houston County. Smith was convicted of third-degree burglary and theft of property in 2011 and sentenced to a total of 11 years. He was sentenced in 2009 to four years for third-degree robbery.

The attorney general’s office opposed parole for all except Smith, Carter and Burrell.