An Alabama woman has avoided the death penalty after accepting a last-minute plea deal just as jury selection was about to begin in her capital murder trial. Jakalya Williams, who was arrested in 2023 at the age of 18, pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to the Globe, the case goes back to a disturbing series of events in Dothan, Alabama, in 2023. Police said Williams secretly gave birth inside her home. Her family had no idea she was pregnant. She then took the newborn and abandoned the child in a nearby commercial dumpster with a trash compactor.
