Thanks to the outpouring of public support, parole was denied for the man guilty in the 2008 shooting death of a Brewton couple.
The state pardon and parole board on Wednesday denied Michael Williams’ parole in the manslaughter conviction in the deaths of Dennis and Donna Smith. Details of the shooting made regional headlines after it started as a verbal altercation following an Alabama vs. LSU football game turned deadly in the Owassa Community in Conecuh County.
This was the second time Shannon Odom, Mr. Smith’s brother, sought public help in keeping Williams behind bars. Convicted in April 2011, Williams began serving a 20-year sentence in Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton. In 2014, Odom credited social media for putting Williams behind bars after learning his brother’s killer was serving as a trusty at the Conecuh County Jail.
Williams was then transferred to Kilby Prison and later the Red Eagle Work Center, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.
“I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to everyone who helped support my family in this fight,” Odom said. “Without it, I don’t know what we would have done. Thank you so much.”