Authorities say that the harsh beatings of two Jefferson County Jail inmates led to the planning of a murder plot that led to the death of a Sylacauga man in 2021. The plot was planned from behind bars.
Five people are charged with capital murder and murder for hire in the shooting death of 46-year-old Bradford Franklin Isbell. Isbell was a key witness against the plot’s planner, according to the police.
In the past few months, Montrell Towns (30), Markkeis Antwain Towns (31), Kiera Monthelia Turner (28), Allana Amani Reid (30), and Tahila Myicole Lomax (31), have all been charged.
The police say that Montrell Towns and Markkeis Towns made a deal to kill Isbell. Danny Carr, the district attorney for Jefferson County, said that all of the other suspects were very important to the plan’s success.
When Montrell Towns was in the Jefferson County Jail in 2019, he was waiting to go to court on charges of trying to kill a Birmingham police officer and shooting into a police cruiser that was already filled.
In that case, a police officer from the Birmingham police task force was looking into someone or more people who were thought to be involved in violent crimes in the city.
The officer was driving an unmarked car when he saw the guys walk up to his car. The police say he saw what was going on and started to drive away. That’s when shots were fired at his car.
After being shot in the arm, the cop turned on his radio and asked for help. Police said the attackers got into a white SUV and drove off.
After a short chase, an unknown number of suspects got out of the SUV and ran away on foot. The cops in Birmingham used all five of their K-9 tracking teams to look for the killers. A number of powerful guns were found.
It was three people who were taken, one of them was rapper Montrell Towns. Someone found him hidden under a car.
Two other inmates were attacked while they were still in the county jail in 2019 on those charges.
One was a 40-year-old man from Birmingham who, according to court papers, was hit so hard that he will never be the same.
On the second, a 38-year-old guy from Oakman was hit with a jail food tray and seriously hurt, according to investigators. The damage was permanent.
Authorities and court papers say that Isbell, who was also in county jail in 2019, was a key witness against Towns.
Carr said that was when Montrell Towns planned to keep Isbell from speaking against him. Isbell was now living in Sylacauga after getting out of jail.
The prosecution said that Montrell wanted Bradford to keep quiet. “Isbell was killed before he could help the case.”
He was killed on Harper Springs Road in Sylacauga around 10 p.m. on June 23, 2021. He was found dead outside the house by the police.