A teen from Dothan has pleaded not guilty to capital murder by reason of mental disease or defect. She is accused of putting her newborn baby in a trash compactor in August of last year.
Williams, who is now 19 years old, had her son on August 13, 2023, when she was 18. Police in Dothan said Williams told her family that she had taken the baby to Southeast Health Medical Center.
But the family was worried, so they called the hospital. They told them the child wasn’t there.
Then Williams’ family called the cops.
Investigators say Williams gave birth around 7 a.m. and then took the baby to another apartment complex in Dothan a few hours later, where she allegedly put the baby in a trash bin.
A capital murder charge was brought against Williams in February. The child was found wrapped in a blanket.
When the cops found out where the baby had been, they went back to the trash can where he had been found and found his body.
During a press conference last August, Dothan police chief Will Benny said Williams told investigators she threw the baby away because “she didn’t want the child.” He also said Williams knew she could have taken the child to the hospital because that’s what she told her family.
Williams was arrested in August of last year and charged with capital murder. She has been held without bail in the Houston County Jail ever since. State court records show that a hearing with a jury will start on July 29.
If Williams is found guilty, she will either spend the rest of her life in jail without the chance of parole or be put to death. If she was found not guilty because of a mental illness or defect, the court would hold a hearing to decide if she should be sent to a mental health center.