FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
August 18, 2015
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
AG ANNOUNCES THAT COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
UPHOLDS ST. CLAIR COUNTY CAPITAL MURDER CONVICTION
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the Alabama
Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the capital murder conviction of Taurus
Jermaine Carroll. Carroll, 38, of Birmingham, was convicted in St. Clair County Circuit
Court in September of 2012 for the murder of Michael Turner.
When Carroll murdered Turner – on September 14, 2009 – Carroll was already
serving a sentence of life without parole at St. Clair Correctional Facility due to his
conviction for a previous capital murder.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Carroll accused Turner of taking his cell
phone. Despite Turner’s repeated denials, Carroll stabbed him multiple times with a knife
fashioned from part of an air conditioner vent. Turner was taken to the prison infirmary,
where he died as a result of the wounds. An autopsy indicated that Turner sustained 16
stab wounds to his head, neck, and body. Carroll admitted to a correctional officer that day
that he had intended to kill Turner. Early the next morning, investigators with the
Investigation and Intelligence Division of the Alabama Department of Corrections read
Carroll his Miranda rights, which he waived, and he gave a full confession, which was
recorded.
The case was prosecuted at trial by St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor.
Carroll was sentenced to death and subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on
appeal.
The Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division handled the case during the appeals
process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the conviction. The
Court did so in a decision issued on Friday, August 14.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Beth Jackson
Hughes of the Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division for her successful work in this
case.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
