The Alabama woman accepted life without parole to end a capital murder case, then moved to withdraw the agreement days later.
DOTHAN, Ala. — Jakayla Ashanti Williams made a bargain in September that removed one punishment from the table: execution. Her guilty plea to capital murder guaranteed that she would spend the rest of her life in prison instead. Now her attempt to undo that bargain could put the death penalty back into the case.
The unusual turn comes after Williams, 21, challenged the Sept. 14 plea that resolved the 2023 killing of her newborn son. Her newly appointed lawyers allege that Houston County Circuit Court never formally ruled on her competency after the issue had been raised and that the judge failed to advise her of a right to appeal. Judge Henry D. “Butch” Binford has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 10. The conviction remains valid unless the court grants Williams’ request for relief.
Before the plea, Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman had made clear that his office intended to seek a death sentence. Williams’ attorneys were preparing to ask jurors to consider her youth and mental and emotional condition in deciding punishment if she were convicted. Williams was 18 at the time of her son’s death. The agreement reached just before jury selection replaced that uncertainty with a fixed result: a capital murder conviction and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
That tradeoff now shapes the stakes of her post-plea challenge. WTVY reported that Williams would again face the capital prosecution if she is allowed to withdraw her plea. If she were later convicted at trial, the sentencing possibilities could include death or life without parole. A successful effort to reopen the case therefore would not erase the allegations against her or guarantee a lighter sentence. It would restore the trial rights surrendered in September while also reviving the punishment prosecutors originally sought.
The new attorneys, Manish Patel and Christopher Sledge, have focused on what they describe as a missing competency determination. Competency is separate from a defense concerning a defendant’s mental state at the time of an alleged crime. The present issue is whether Williams was legally able to understand the proceedings and participate in her defense when the case reached the plea stage. Her lawyers contend that because competency had been questioned, a formal resolution was required before the court could move forward.
The motion also alleges that Binford did not advise Williams of her right to appeal. Those assertions have not yet been tested at a hearing, and the court has not ruled that either claimed omission occurred in a way that requires the plea to be withdrawn. WTVY reported that legal experts consulted on background believed the challenge could have merit. But the decision rests with the court, and guilty pleas are generally difficult to undo once they have been accepted and sentence has been imposed.
The dispute did not begin with the new lawyers. Within days of sentencing, Williams filed a handwritten motion alleging that her previous attorneys had coerced her into accepting the agreement. Binford appointed replacement counsel soon afterward. Her allegation echoed a claim made publicly by family member Andre Kincey, who said after the plea that Williams had been pressured by her defense team. Yet Williams had told Binford in court that her decision was voluntary. Former attorneys Aimee Cobb and Clay Wadsworth did not publicly respond after the plea hearing.
The prosecution itself grew out of events on Aug. 24, 2023, when Southeast Health staff called Dothan police. Williams and relatives were at the hospital trying to find an infant she said she had surrendered there after giving birth Aug. 13. Police said Williams claimed she had handed the newborn to an employee because she did not want the child and believed raising a baby cost too much money. Her relatives had not known about the pregnancy or birth until Aug. 23 and went with her to locate the child.
Investigators determined that Williams had not brought a baby to the hospital, according to police. After officers confronted her with that finding, authorities said she admitted taking the newborn to an apartment complex on the west side of Dothan. She told investigators she wrapped him in a blanket and put him into a dumpster while he was still alive. Police said Williams had no connection to the complex and that the reason she chose the location was unknown.
The dumpster was attached to a trash compactor. Police seized it and transported it to the city landfill, where officers searched its contents. Investigators reported finding the remains of a newborn wrapped in a mattress protector inside a zipped duffel bag. The remains were sent for forensic examination, and Williams was arrested on a capital murder charge. The state’s claim that the baby was alive when abandoned later became a contested point, with the defense challenging that part of the prosecution’s case before trial.
Mental health also became a recurring issue during the years the case remained pending. Williams’ lawyers previously emphasized that she had no criminal record and needed mental-health treatment. The defense pursued arguments concerning her mental condition and, as trial approached, challenged the decision to seek capital punishment against someone who had been 18 when the crime occurred. Those proceedings provide the backdrop for the new claim that the separate legal question of her competency had not been formally resolved before the plea.
By Sept. 14, neither side expected the case necessarily to end in an agreement. Goodman told local media that a potential plea had been discussed late the week before, but prosecutors were uncertain whether Williams would accept it. She did so as the court was preparing to qualify prospective jurors. Goodman later said the conviction brought little sense of victory, noting the nature of the case. The agreement simultaneously spared Williams from execution and ensured she would never be eligible for parole.
The newborn’s death also became part of a local debate over safe-surrender resources. Alabama lawmakers had authorized Safe Haven Baby Boxes, which allow newborns to be surrendered anonymously at approved facilities. Dothan’s fire department had already been exploring the devices before Williams’ arrest, and city officials later approved an agreement to install them. The Dothan Fire Department now lists boxes at three stations, where an alarm alerts first responders when a newborn is placed inside.
Those broader developments are settled. The status of Williams’ conviction is not. The same plea that removed the possibility of a death sentence is now the subject of a challenge that could restore it. Until Binford rules, Williams remains convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The court’s Nov. 10 hearing is the next scheduled milestone. It will give Williams’ new lawyers an opportunity to press their procedural claims and prosecutors an opportunity to respond. The judge’s decision will determine whether the case remains closed by the September plea or returns to the path toward a capital murder trial.
Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.