Getting VOCAL About Crime

National Crime Victims' Rights Week is April 18-24. A candlelight vigil will be held in Florence's Wilson Park on April 20th at 7:00 p.m. While VOCAL isn't perfect, it does a great work with helping the families of those who have been the victims of violent crime. Many thanks to Denny Kimbrell, current VOCAL president, for all that he does.

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Ben Burt Jr. has been denied parole. He will continue serving the remaining seven years of his sentence in the death of Matthew Williams.

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Former Burt associate, Mark Anthony Hurley, aka the Reedtown Rapist, has been arrested again while out on bail--this time on drug charges. He was indicted by a Franklin County Grand Jury last week on the current charges of Possession of Marijuana and Drug Paraphernalia. What does it take to keep this man in prison?

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Andrew Daniel Scott, aka Hottie Scottie, will face a preliminary hearing in Judge Carole Coil Medley's courtroom on April 30th. Scott was arrested in early February in downtown Florence and charged with the Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia.

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The reward for information leading to an arrest in the brutal attack on Jake is now $125.00. Please call Capt. Ron Tyler with the Florence Police Department at 760-6576 if you have any information.


Which one is illegal: According to the state audit of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame released in January of this year, one board member was appointed illegally. Interesting, but which one...and why? Could David Johnson use this illegal action in a fight against the Board?

Shoalanda

Matthew Williams: Was Justice Done?

Did Matthew Daniel Williams take a bullet that was meant for someone else? It's hard to come to any other conclusion after reviewing the various statements concerning the March 15, 1997, drive-by shooting.

While driving north on Woodward Avenue, Matthew Williams was behind the wheel, while his friend Bradley Williams, an alleged member of the Crips, sat on the passenger side; between them sat Brandi Lee Campbell, often described as a gang-wannabe. Bradley Williams had been involved in a verbal altercation with 16 year-old Charles Eugene Black earlier in the evening. Now, Black was a passenger in a car driven by 18 year-old Jamie Allen Mackey. Three other youths rode in the back seat of Mackey's car, all either members of or closely associated with the Folk Nation.

As Mackey's car maneuvered alongside Matthew Williams' truck, Brandi Campbell saw the glint of a gun as it misfired. Telling her fiance' Bradley Williams to duck, Campbell followed suit, allowing the second shot to strike Matthew Williams in the head. According to Campbell's dramatic testimony, she knew he was dead as soon as she felt him slump against her.

A Colbert County jury took 45 minutes to convict Charles Black of capital murder. Black is serving a sentence of life without possibility of parole at the St. Clair Correctional Facility. Mackey was convicted of felony murder and is currently serving a life sentence at Limestone Correctional Facility; he is eligible for parole.

The third defendant in the case was Ben Edward Burt (pictured). A resident of Reedtown, the 37 year-old Burt was supposedly the Northwest Alabama leader of the Folk gang and a close associate of Mark Anthony Hurley, aka the Reedtown rapist. The Franklin County resident admitted to ordering a random hit on a member of the Crip gang and was given a plea deal for his testimony. Burt received a twenty year sentence and is currently incarcerated at Limestone.

According to Danny and Elaine Williams, Matthew's parents, while they accepted the plea deal, they expected Burt to receive much longer than his twenty year sentence. Now Burt's case is to be presented to the Alabama Board of Pardons & Parole on April 13. They are asking that all concerned citizens write the Board in protest of Ben Edward Burt's parole. We don't think it's too much to ask that Burt serve the remaining seven years of his sentence.

Address:
Alabama Board of Pardons & Parole
Post Office Box 302405
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-2405
Re: Ben Edward Burt - AIS #197375


Shoalanda

Matthew Williams: No More Crusin' on Woodward Avenue

The pony cars are cruisin' on Woodward Avenue.
Go and try to pass 'em, they'll smoke you if you do.

From The Horizontal Bop by Bob Segar


One doesn't have to be superstitious to realize that the Ides of March was unlucky for Matthew Daniel Williams. It was Saturday, March 15, 1997, when Williams died in a 10:20 p.m. drive-by shooting on Woodward Avenue. Reports indicated that Williams' red Mazda truck displayed symbols associated with the Crips; the other two occupants of his truck were Bradley Williams and his pregnant fiancee' Brandi Lee Campbell. Campbell was known to talk of gang related activities and flash gang signs at random--a strange affectation that may have directly led to Matthew Williams' death.

Matthew Williams, a graduate of Muscle Shoals High School, was attending Northwest-Shoals Community College at the time of his death. A member of the choral group "The Singers," he had a perfect 4.0 GPA. Muscle Shoals police were initially mystified as to how the conservative Williams had become involved in a gang related shooting. Their investigation later determined that Bradley Williams, no relation to the victim, had been in a verbal altercation with the shooter earlier in the evening. Was Bradley Williams the intended victim? Were gangs even involved? Had Brandi Campbell sacrificed Matthew Williams to save her fiance'?


Tomorrow: A plea deal that left Matthew Williams' family shocked.

Shoalanda

Blog Awards/Home Furniture Depot

There are many blog directories in cyberspace--some are regional, some are topical, and some encompass as many areas as possible. Home Furniture Depot is the driving force behind Blog Awards, a directory that not only lists various blogs, but rates them as well. Currently, over 2,200 blogs are featured at their blog website. Home Furniture Depot was kind enough to add our blog several weeks ago, and we've been remiss in not acknowledging that kindness. Here's a link to their store's website; we're sure you'll find something you can't live without.

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Our correspondent D.K. tells us that a parole hearing for Ben Edward Burt Jr. (AIS #197375) will be held on April 13, 2010. Burt was convicted of criminal solicitation in the murder of Matthew Williams of Muscle Shoals. Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting on March 15, 1997. Thirteen years is far too short a sentence for such a crime. D.K., as well as the rest of our blogging group, encourage you to write to protest Burt's parole:

Alabama Board of Pardons & Parole
Post Office Box 302405
VSO Debra Bonds
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-2405

Tomorrow: The murder of Matthew Williams

Thanks,

Shoalanda