One suspect free; one gets life

One person scheduled for trial last week in Escambia County (Ala.) on capital murder charges was set free and a second was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after plea agreements were reached with the district attorney's office.

Yeldon Devonta Rothchild, 29, of Atmore was charged with capital murder for the 2017 murder of Donta Demorris Russell, 20, and has spent the past six years in jail awaiting a trial that could have led to the death penalty.

Last Wednesday, District Attorney Steve Billy and attorneys for Rothchild reached an agreement where Rothchild pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and the capital murder charge was dismissed. He was immediately released from jail and sentenced to time served.

Billy said the longer a case goes on, evidence deteriorates and the case weakens. He also said witnesses become less cooperative and change statements.

Billy also noted that during the past six years, Rothchild has had three sets of attorneys representing him at different times.

Rothchild's co-defendant, Darrell Brown, also of Atmore, remains behind bars and is still facing a capital murder charge in Russell's death.

Both Rothchild and Brown were indicted by an Escambia County grand jury on the capital murder charges after sheriff's deputies found Russell shot to death inside a vehicle parked outside 1980 Martin Luther King Drive in Atmore on April 26, 2017.

Anderson sentenced

Last Thursday, Caleb Scott Anderson pleaded guilty to capital murder charges in the Aug. 3, 2022, stabbing death of Flomaton resident Dwight Anthony Dixon, 52. Dixon's body was found inside his Dixon Road residence on the morning of Aug. 3.

Anderson, who left his cell phone at the murder scene, was also driving a vehicle he is accused of stealing from a man he is accused of murdering in Green Bay, Wisc. Anderson was apprehended in Shelby County later on Aug. 3, 2022, without incident.

Anderson stood before Escambia County Circuit Judge Todd Stearns last Thursday and pleaded guilty to capital murder in Dixon's death and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Judge Stearns told Anderson that under Alabama law there were only two possible sentences for someone guilty of capital murder: death and life without parole.

Anderson said he understood and then pleaded guilty. Stearns accepted his guilty plea and sentenced him to life without parole, based on a plea agreement reached with the district attorney's office.

Anderson turned toward Billy in the courtroom and said "Thank you for offering the plea vs. the death penalty route. I can't take back what I did."

Stearns also told Anderson that under the law he would have to pay restitution to Dixon's family not less than $50,000, plus $50 to the crime victims fund and court costs.

"I will not be able to pay that, but I understand," Anderson said.