St Clair County, AL – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed a prior order vacating the death sentence of Marcus Bernard Williams, according to an announcement from Steve Marshall. The ruling reinstates the capital sentence Williams received following his conviction for the 1999 murder of Melanie Rowell in St. Clair County, AL.
Williams was convicted in the St. Clair County Circuit Court after a jury found him guilty of capital murder. Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Williams broke into Rowell’s home during the night, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her at knifepoint. Prosecutors stated that Rowell’s young children discovered her body the following morning. Testimony included Williams’s confession and forensic evidence linking him to the crime. The jury recommended the death penalty by an 11–1 vote.
In subsequent federal proceedings, a lower court had vacated Williams’s death sentence, ruling that his defense attorneys were ineffective for not presenting an argument that compulsive “hypersexuality” reduced his culpability. The State of Alabama opposed that argument, maintaining that such a defense would not have been viewed favorably by a jury and could have introduced additional evidence of a separate alleged sexual assault.
The case progressed through the federal court system, including review by the Supreme Court of the United States, which vacated a previous appellate ruling and remanded the case for further consideration. Upon review, the Eleventh Circuit ultimately sided with the State and reinstated Williams’s death sentence in a decision issued April 3, 2026.
Attorney General Marshall credited the work of the Solicitor General Division and the Capital Litigation Division, stating that their efforts were instrumental in achieving the outcome and in seeking justice for Rowell and her family.
