FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
May 31, 2018
Steve Marshall
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
ATTORNEY GENERAL STEVE MARSHALL ANNOUNCES COURT OF CRIMINAL
APPEALS UPHOLDS TWO SEPARATE MOBILE COUNTY MURDER CONVICTIONS
(MONTGOMERY) Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the Alabama Court of Criminal
Appeals has upheld the murder convictions of Terry Wayne Poole and Heath Andre Foster.
Poole, 57, of Wilmer, was convicted in Mobile County Circuit Court in April 2017 for the
murder of Billy Ernest, and for discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. In a separate
case, Foster, 22, of Mobile, was convicted in Mobile County Circuit Court in August 2017 for the
murder of Darrius Rowser.
During Poole’s trial, the evidence indicated that Poole had been having disputes with Ernest, as
well as other neighbors, about property lines and roadwork in the neighborhood. On October
16, 2014, Poole shot Ernest in the back of the head with a shotgun as Ernest drove by with his
two infant grandchildren in his vehicle.
During Foster’s trial, the evidence indicated that on February 27, 2012, while Rowser was sitting
in his vehicle at an intersection, Rowser was killed by more than one individual shooting into
his vehicle. One of the murder weapons, a .38 caliber pistol, was later found by police on the
person of Foster. Foster later admitted to a fellow inmate while in jail that he had committed the
murder.
Mobile County District Attorney Ashely Rich’s Office prosecuted both cases.
Upon conviction, the trial court sentenced Poole to life imprisonment on his murder conviction
and to 20 years’ imprisonment on the discharging-a-firearm-into-an-occupied-vehicle
conviction. Separately, the trial court sentenced Foster to 25 years’ imprisonment on his murder
conviction. Each defendant appealed his conviction and sentence.
The Attorney General’s Appeals Division handled both cases during the appeals process,
arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the convictions. The Court did so
in decisions issued on Friday, May 25th.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorneys General Cecil Brendle and Tommy
Leverette of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section for their successful work in these
cases.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
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