Attorney General Steve Marshall announced on April 6 that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reinstated the death sentence of Marcus Bernard Williams, who was convicted in 1999 for capital murder in St. Clair County.
The decision is significant as it reverses a previous federal court order that vacated Williams’s sentence on grounds related to his defense strategy. The Alabama Attorney General office works to enhance safety across the state by focusing on initiatives to reduce violent crime and support victims, according to the official website.
Williams was found guilty of raping and murdering Melanie Rowell, a 20-year-old mother of two, after breaking into her home at night and committing the crime while her children slept nearby. The jury heard Williams’s confession and reviewed forensic evidence linking him to the scene before recommending the death penalty by an eleven-to-one vote.
A federal court had previously ruled that Williams’s attorneys should have argued his compulsive “hypersexuality” as a mitigating factor. However, state prosecutors said such a defense would not have helped his case and could have introduced evidence of another sexual assault committed by Williams weeks after Rowell’s murder.
After initially winning relief from both the Northern District of Alabama and an earlier Eleventh Circuit panel, the Attorney General’s Office persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to send the case back for reconsideration. This time, on April 3, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit sided with state prosecutors and restored Williams’s original sentence.
Marshall commended both divisions within his office for their efforts: “Attorney General Marshall commended the Solicitor General Division and the Capital Litigation Division for their tireless efforts to see justice done for Melanie Rowell and her family.”
The Alabama Attorney General office functions as Alabama’s chief law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction—offering legal representation, prosecuting crimes, supporting victims—and has been recognized with honors such as receiving Hometown Hero recognition from municipal leaders during past crises according to its official website. Marshall has served as Alabama’s forty-eighth attorney general since February 2017 according to information available online.