HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) - The attorneys for an 18-year-old charged with capital murder in the slaying of an Alabama sheriff are requesting his release from jail as court proceedings remain delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawyers representing William Chase Johnson filed a motion for bond last week, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Johnson has been held in the Elmore County Jail since Nov. 23, the night he was accused of fatally shooting Lowndes County Sheriff John Williams Sr. in the face as the sheriff was attempting to disperse loiterers at a Hayneville gas station.
Grand jurors have yet to take up the case as the investigation remains ongoing and court proceedings have been on hold in Lowndes County, which has one of the state’s highest virus infection rates, the newspaper reported. July’s grand jury session was canceled, with the next meeting set for January 2021.
“This amounts to over a one year pre indictment delay in this matter. This is unreasonable,” Johnson’s attorneys wrote.
If convicted, Johnson could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. But the brief contends Johnson has “a law abiding and supportive family,” has made no threats against witnesses and has lived his entire life in Montgomery County, where his father is a sheriff’s deputy.
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