Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals Overturns Conviction and Death Sentence of Kevin Andre Towles

Kevin Andre Towles will apparently be in line for a third trial; that, after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals recently overturned his conviction and death sentence in the 2006 case of the death of five year old Geontae Glass.

According to investigators – Geontae was beaten to death with a piece of lumber by Towles, who at the time was dating the child’s mother Shalinda Glass – after he brought home a bad report card. Prosecutors say Shalinda Glass did nothing to stop the beating and afterwards, she and Towles attempted to cover up the death by staging a kidnapping in Albertville.

Authorities later found Geontae’s body in the trunk of a car in Towles garage.

Shalinda Glass entered a guilty plea in 2012 and is currently serving a term of life in prison.

In 2013 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Towles’ 2009 conviction for the first time because it ruled that the testimony of Towles’ own son had been ruled inadmissible.  In 2016 the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that Towles should have a new trial, citing improper testimony during the first trial.  The result of that second trial:  He was sentenced to death.

Now, the Court has reversed that decision, saying jurors weren’t properly instructed on the definition of capital murder in the case; overturning that conviction on the grounds that the court improperly instructed jurors, stating that they could still find Towles guilty of capital murder, even if intent to kill wasn’t proven. Towles maintained throughout the trial that Geontae’s death was an accident.  According to the new opinion issued by the Court, at that time the court’s instructions to the jury had “an unfair prejudicial impact on the jury’s deliberations,”

The date for a new trial has yet to be determined.

(www.whnt.com)

(www.waaytv.com)

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