Jeremy Williams ready to stand trial on Kamarie Holland murder despite the fact he’s already entered a guilty plea
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL) — Monday morning an unusual courtroom drama will begin to play out in the Russell County Judicial Center.
Jeremy Williams will go on trial for the murder and rape of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland. There will be a trial – complete with a jury – despite the fact that Williams has already entered a guilty plea in front of Circuit Court Judge David Johnson.
This is happening because Alabama law requires that guilt or innocence in a death penalty case must be decided by a 12-person jury. It can’t be done by a simple plea.
And – make no mistake – the Russell County District Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against Jeremy Williams.
And this is the road they must travel to secure it.
Jeremy Williams has confessed to law enforcement and admitted in open court that he raped, sodomized and strangled to death the little girl after making her take methamphetamines.
He then admitted to raping her corpse – and it’s all on video.
Despite all that, a substantially larger than normal jury pool will show up Monday morning as jury selection begins.
The state needs 12 people who say they can be fair and impartial in rendering a verdict.
Judge David Johnson has issued a gag order in this case. District Attorney Rick Chancey declined comment on Friday.
There is a 2022 Mobile County case that is similar. Derrick Dearman was convicted in the 2016 ax murder of five people and a fetus.
He is currently on death row in Atmore. Ashley Rich was the Mobile County DA who prosecuted Dearman. She talked to WRBL Friday.
Rich says despite the guilty pleas – and that’s the same thing Dearman did – the prosecutors have to build an air-tight case for the jury. So that the convictions could be upheld if the defendant were to ever to change his mind.
Chancey has previously said that jury selection could take multiple days.
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