Jeremy LeShun Williams and Bri Rutland
MONTGOMERY— Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the murder conviction of Jeremy Leshun Williams. Williams, 32, of Florence, was convicted in November of 2015 for the murder of Brioni “Bree” Rutland.
Evidence was presented at trial that on November 26, 2013, Williams shot Rutland in his left eye, and then stabbed him 68 times in Florence. Williams dumped Rutland’s body into the Tennessee River off of the old Railroad Bridge in the Sheffield area of Colbert County.
The case was prosecuted at trial by Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly’s office. Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment for his murder conviction. He subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section 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 February 3.
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General John Porter of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section for his successful work in this case.
