MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge from a man sentenced to death for the 2001 killings of a Sylacauga woman and her daughter.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that convicted killer Wakilii Brown is not entitled to have his convictions or death sentence overturned, affirming an earlier decision by a federal district court in Alabama.
In March 2001, 26-year-old Cherea Jemison and her mother, 49-year-old Dotty Jemison, were found dead inside Dotty Jemison’s Sylacauga home. Authorities said both women suffered multiple injuries to the head and neck.
Investigators tracked Brown to Cleveland, Ohio. Following a standoff that lasted nearly 25 hours, police used tear gas to force him from a residence, and he was taken into custody.
Brown was convicted in Talladega County of three counts of capital murder. A jury recommended a death sentence, which a judge imposed in May 2008.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the ruling and credited Assistant Attorney General Henry M. Johnson for representing the state in the case.
