Gadsden jail home to 11 charged with murder! ........................
Date Posted:6/12/06


There are eleven people currently in the county jail charged with first-degree murder. "That seems like a lot for a little county like ours, but you have to remember that six of those are cold cases," said Sheriff Morris Young. Assistant State Attorney Richard Combs said it is unusual to have this many people sitting in jail awaiting trial for murders. "We've had more than our share. Some of these cases (six) are cold cases. If they had been solved when they happened, there wouldn't be this many. The focus of the Sheriff when he came into office was to solve some of these cold cases and he did," Combs said. One of the accused has been behind bars for more than two years, awaiting trial. "So much for 11-29," said Young, referring to the law that says an inmate can only remain in the county jail for eleven months and 29 days.

Willie Sentill Smith, accused of killing four members of one family on Atwater Road family was set to go to trail next month, almost three years to the date from the night the murders were committed. The last time Smith was set for trial he attempted to hang himself with bed sheets from the vent in his jail cell. Now he is under suicide watch. Just this week, the Public Defender's Office notified the State Attorney that they have withdrawn from the case and another attorney will take over. "That will delay it even further," said Combs, since a judge must appoint the attorney. "Whenever it comes to trial, this is likely to be the biggest case in the county's history if the prosecutors seek the death penalty," said Major Shawn Wood, jail administrator. Smith is accused of the April 19, 2004 murder of his former girlfriend, 19- year-old Kimberly Walker; her mother, 35-year-old Deondra Scott; her sister, 14-year-old Laterica Jackson; and her cousin, 9-year-old Terrell Brown. All four of the victims were shot to death. Later that night Smith, 21 at the time of the crimes, surrendered to then Deputy Morris Young and confessed to the killings. In the meantime, Smith is costing taxpayers big bucks while he sits in jail. Last year two doctors told Circuit Judge William Gary that he was not mentally stable enough to stand trial.

There is a price tag attached each time he sees a doctor. Clinton Jordan has been in jail almost a year since he was arrested for the murder of 25-year-old Anthony Ross as he rode a go-cart along Candy Lane, one of Gretna's back streets. That same week in 2005, a Gadsden County teenager Terell Powell was arrested for the 2003 cold case murder of William Moses Wilson in the Robertsville Community. Powell, a high school student, had been a suspect in the year-long search for enough evidence to make an arrest. A break finally came when the weapon was discovered discarded in a well. Powell allegedly shot Wilson at the home he shared with his brother and sister-in-law as he sat on a back yard swing. He laid there all night until a relative, crossing the yard, noticed him clinging to life on the ground. He died minutes after authorities arrived. Donna Cannon was also arrested as a conspirator with Powell in Wilson's murder.

Three men were arrested last June in the murder of Jeremiah "Jerry" Sanders. Earl Lee Moore, Tracy Lamar Wright, Jr., and Norman Winbush, Jr. were all charged with first degree murder. The trio allegedly plotted to kill Sanders, a Gadsden County employee, after they heard he came into money from a lawsuit. When Sanders arrived home late one night they went into the home, took $38, a VCR, tennis shoes and various items of clothing. The three tried to hang Sanders after he was strangled, but when the trailer ceiling failed to hold him, he was stuffed in the trunk of his own car. Several days later Sanders' partially decomposed body was discovered by deputies who were still searching the area. All three suspects lived in the same mobile home park as Sanders and knew him well. Winbush and Wright sit in the county jail while Moore is serving time in the Department of Corrections on another charge. He will be returned for trial.

Fernando Taylor is charged with killing Constance Dupont of Havana. Lopez Daniels is also charged with the same murder. He is, however, in federal custody and will be returned for trial. Dupont was shot to death in her downtown Havana apartment, after she was suspected of being a confidential informant. Juan Panjota remains in jail as he appeals his conviction in the murder of a three-year-old. He is expected to stand trial in two weeks in a sexual battery case involving the murder victim. When a case comes to trial depend on a lot of variables. "Sometimes homicides can be simple. You may have two or three witnesses and go to trial. There are lots of cases, though, when there are no witnesses and it takes a long time," Combs said. In small counties where staff is limited, Combs said a prosecutor and a public defender may be handling more than one murder case.