DOTHAN, Ala. — A Dothan woman pleaded guilty to capital murder Monday and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2023 death of her newborn son, ending a case in which prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty.
Jakayla Ashanti Williams, 21, accepted the plea agreement as jury selection was scheduled to begin in Houston County Circuit Court. The agreement avoided a trial and removed the possibility of a death sentence.
Williams was 18 when she gave birth at her Dothan home in August 2023, authorities said. Investigators alleged that she put the newborn boy inside a zipped duffel bag and placed the bag in a trash-compactor dumpster at an apartment complex on Dothan’s west side. The child’s remains were later recovered at the Dothan landfill.
Authorities have maintained that the child was alive when he was put in the dumpster. Williams’ defense had disputed that allegation, arguing there was no evidence to support it.
The case came to police attention after Williams and her mother went to Southeast Health looking for the baby. Williams initially told police that she had given birth at home on Aug. 13, 2023, and had secretly handed the child to a hospital nurse, authorities said.
Investigators reviewed hospital surveillance video and did not find footage showing Williams at the hospital. After further questioning, police said, investigators learned the baby had been placed in the dumpster.
Before Monday’s plea, Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman had said his office intended to seek the death penalty if Williams were convicted at trial. Her attorneys, Aimee Cobb and Clay Wadsworth, had argued that her age and emotional struggles should be considered.
Williams had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect before accepting the plea agreement.
Under Alabama law, capital murder carries a sentence of death or life imprisonment without parole for defendants who were 18 or older when the offense was committed.