A young mother could face the death sentence after being charged with killing her newborn son. The case has shocked and horrified the people in the area.
Dothan resident Jakayla Williams is accused of putting her newborn son in a dumpster soon after giving birth in August.
The baby’s dead body was found in a trash compactor, wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by a mattress cushion. This new information has made people even more sad and angry.
Williams has said that she is not guilty of the charge of deadly murder. Her statements and court records show that she has said she has a mental illness or defect.
According to ABC affiliate WDHN, District Attorney Russ Goodman has said that the death sentence is being thought about if Williams is found guilty.
Unfortunately, the terrible chain of events began on August 13, the day Williams gave birth. At first, she told the cops that she had taken her baby to a nearby hospital and given him to a staff member.
Later, police looked at video footage and saw that Williams never went into the health center, proving that this story was not true. Her story started to fall apart as mistakes were found, which led to more investigation by the police.
Williams finally admitted that he had put the baby in a dumpster at an apartment building. He also said that the baby was still alive at the time.
She told the cops that the thought of becoming a mother made her feel overwhelmed, and she said that money worries were the main reason for her actions.
Williams’ defense team has asked for mercy by pointing out that she is young and has never been in trouble with the law before.
They asked that she be tried as a juvenile criminal, which would have meant that she would get much lighter punishments. Judge Butch Binford, however, turned down this request.
Clay Wadsworth, Williams’ defense lawyer, focused on the fact that Williams was a child and pointed out her good grades and clean record to show that Williams was a young girl who wasn’t ready for the responsibilities she faced.
He stressed that Williams had never been convicted of a crime before and had done well in school, trying to soften the grim picture painted by the prosecution.
Prosecutors have stuck to their guns and said Williams is a major threat to the safety of children, despite these points. They said her actions showed a heartless lack of care for life and called her a threat to “every living, breathing child.”
Williams is most likely to get the death punishment or a life sentence without the chance of parole if he is found guilty.