Beth Shelburne
@bshelburne
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Journalist, writer, investigative reporter, podcaster. Heart attack survivor, pal to assorted humans. Mostly brave except with roaches.
Birmingham, AL
Joined March 2009
Earwitness is available wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to my 2-year investigation into Toforest Johnson’s conviction as I try to figure out how an innocent man has been trapped on Alabama’s death row for 25 years. #innocent #podcast #mustlisten
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THREAD: Today I talked to Willie Simmons, who has spent the last 38 years in prison for stealing $9. He was convicted of 1st degree robbery & sentenced to life without parole in 1982, prosecuted under Alabama's habitual offender law because he had 3 prior convictions. 1/12
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This 17 y/o young woman lost her life. She was 30 days away from turning 18, had been accepted to college and wanted to study nursing. Many unanswered questions about Huffman High shooting, but remember the victim. She should be alive. My heart breaks for her family.
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If incarceration prevents crime, why isn't the United States the safest country in the world?.
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Alabama's parole board shot down every single case yesterday, denying relief to all 28 eligible people including this man, after he's served 12 of a 20-year sentence for MARIJUANA possession & distribution. He's at a minimum security work center where they work him for $2 a day.
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Prison is not rehabilitative, it is not correctional, it is not evidence-based, it does not keep people safe, it is not justice and it harms both incarcerated people and staff. Prisons in America equal barbaric torture & will be viewed as a national shame in the history books.
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When tough on crime people say everyone in prison deserves to be there, think of Mr. Simmons. We should be ashamed of laws that categorically throw people away in the name of safety. We should question anyone who supports Alabama's habitual offender law. It needs to go. 12/12.
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Alabama is still steaming ahead for 3 new privately-owned mega-prisons that the state will lease for $88 million a year. Over 30 years, that's $2.6 billion. Imagine what would happen if we instead invested that in schools. Just dream with me a minute. Would we even need prisons?.
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Spotted in the very Republican enclave of Vestavia Hills, Alabama
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I just pulled her arrest warrant and she owed $77.80 They jailed her over $77.80. THEY CUFFED HER AND TOOK HER TO JAIL OVER $77.80.
I wish this was a joke. Police in Valley, Alabama arrested an 82 y/o woman for failure to pay for trash service. The police chief issued a press release defending the arrest. My God.
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People on parole in Alabama have to pay a $40 monthly “supervision fee” to their parole officer or they can be revoked & sent back to prison. Will be doing more reporting on this in 2023.
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Mr. Simmons did not deny his crimes & I am not writing this to argue that he's innocent. He has paid for his crimes with his entire adult life, cast away like he wasn't worth redemption. It sickens me to think about how many other people are warehoused in prison, forgotten. 11/12.
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Your yearly reminder that Willie Simmons is still in prison for a $9 mugging charged as robbery. This will be his 40th Christmas spent in Alabama's violent, overcrowded prison system & lawmakers have done nothing to create a pathway out of prison for Willie and others like him.
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I just witnessed the most extraordinary moment. Judge David Carpenter in Bessemer, AL has resentenced Alvin Kennard to time served after he got life without parole for robbing a bakery of $50 in 1983. He is now 58 & was 22 when he committed the robbery.
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Mr. Simmons was 25 when the state said he should die in prison. Today he's 62. When I asked his age he paused & laughed. "Been so long since somebody asked me that," he said. He hasn't had a visitor since 2005 after his sister died. "Haven't heard from nobody since then." 3/12.
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I just spoke Kastellio Vaughan's family. He's 32, in medical crisis at Elmore prison. The photo (L) was a few months ago. He was having stomach problems from an old injury, underwent surgery in distress, developed an infection and then his family received the photos on right. 1/3
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Mr. Simmons is incarcerated at Holman, one of the most violent prisons in the country. He is studying for his GED and "tries to stay away from the wild bunch." He got sober in prison 18 years ago, despite being surrounded by drugs. "I just talked to God about it," he said. 4/12.
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Over the years, he's filed appeal after appeal, with no lawyer. All were denied. "In a place like this, it can feel like you're standing all alone," he told me. "I ain't got nobody on the outside to call and talk to. Sometimes I feel like I'm lost in outer space." 8/12.
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He told me his priors were 1 grand larceny and 2 receiving stolen property. I could only locate the grand larceny from 1979. He did a year in prison for that conviction, and thinks he did about the same for the other crimes. "But I really can't remember," he said. 2/12.
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He remembers his trial lasting 25 minutes and his appointed attorney calling no witnesses. Prosecutors did not offer him a plea deal, even though all of his prior offenses were nonviolent. "They kept saying we'll do our best to keep you off the streets for good," he said. 6/12.
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"My hope is to get out of here, settle down with a woman and do God's will," he said. "I'd like to tell people about how bad drugs are." Mr. Simmons said he sees men doing drugs all the time in prison, but he stays away. He hasn't gotten a disciplinary citation in a decade. 9/12.
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In 2014, lawmakers removed the last avenue of appeal for people like Mr. Simmons serving life without parole under the habitual offender law. I asked if he had hope that leaders would reconsider that. "Yes, I've been hoping and praying on it," he said. "I ain't giving up." 10/12.
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Mr. Simmons told me he was high on drugs when he committed the crime that landed him in prison for life. He wrestled a man to the ground and stole his wallet which contained $9. "I was just trying to get me a quick fix," he said. Police arrested him a few blocks away. 5/12.
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#WBRC just spoke to Leigh Corfman, Roy Moore's accuser. "I stand by my comments. The article is very detailed, anyone with questions should please re-read it. And I want to say thank you to my friends and others who have supported me and my story.".
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Mr. Simmons told me he grew up poor in Enterprise, Alabama. He started using drugs in high school, but dropped out at age 16. "It was real bad," he said about his drug use. He was using hard drugs when he committed his crimes. "It was all stupid. I was messed up." 7/12.
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I wish this was a joke. Police in Valley, Alabama arrested an 82 y/o woman for failure to pay for trash service. The police chief issued a press release defending the arrest. My God.
Valley police arrest 82-year-old woman for failure to pay trash services
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Talked to a mom about her son's time in Alabama prisons. He went in at 18, was raped, beaten & extorted. He came out with severe PTSD, anxiety, nightmares. He died last year at 27. These prisons do nothing but traumatize & brutalize. Devil's islands. No accountability. 1/2.
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Just got off phone with Kimberly Chisholm Simmons, sister of Harley Chisholm III, one of 3 Birmingham police officers killed in 2004. She does not support the execution of #NateWoods. "He did not kill my brother. This is so unjust. I don't understand," she told me in tears. 1/5
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It was extraordinary to see this wrong made right, but it only happened because the right system actors were in place. I hope Alabama leaders have the courage to grant the same chance to the 500+ others like Alvin who remain locked up with no hope of release.
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Alvin was prosecuted under Alabama’s merciless habitual offender law. His prior convictions were 2 burglaries and 1 grand larceny. No one was ever physically injured. There are more than 500 men & women in Alabama prisons like him, serving life without parole for non-homicides.
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@JustShandana @FootyMadPDX Mr. Simmons told me his bed assignment is A-57. Add that after Holman 3700. Thank you!.
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The courtroom was full of Alvin’s family who wept with joy when the Judge announced his decision. Here they are outside court.
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Last they spoke, Kastellio was in general population, wearing a diaper and languishing. The men around him sent the photos with the words "GET HELP." This inhumane treatment and medical neglect cannot stand. @GovernorKayIvey @ALCorrections please get Kastellio to a hospital. 3/3.
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He has a 9 y/o son with a woman named Iesha who told me the prison is neglecting him, ignoring his family's repeated calls or meeting them with hostility and that prison staff is angry this was posted on social media, but his family is desperate & afraid he will die. 2/3.
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ANOTHER death in an Alabama prison & the body was returned to family MISSING ORGANS. A mortician hired by Kelvin Moore's family discovered most of his internal organs had been removed. They plan to sue.
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Prosecutors now say he’s innocent but Missouri plans to execute him anyway. This is insane. And sick. And terrifying. What are we doing? #EndTheDeathPenalty .
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@nonya_bidniss The state is making money. Counties, cities and state offices pay ADOC for the prisoner labor, sometimes $15, $20 up to $60 a day, but the workers are only paid $2 a day. The rest goes into state coffers.
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Toforest Johnson is on Alabama's death row because a woman said she overheard him talk about a murder on an eavesdropped phone call. No physical or forensic evidence & he has an alibi. 25 years in a cell based on a single earwitness. This is why I investigated his case. 1/3
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@PrisonReformMvt This is shameful. And the hell of it is, many Americans would see this and say "do the crime, do the time." Until it's their loved one who has to drink toxic water, they just don't care.
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Y’all like to shit on Alabama, but we flipped a seat. Congratulations to Shomari Figures. I am proud of this change.
Shomari Figures, on Tuesday, became only the fourth Black member ever elected to Congress from Alabama, winning a competitive and expensive race for the 2nd District seat. Read more:
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Instead of creating pathways out of prison, @GovernorKayIvey is quite literally intending to fund the school to prison pipeline. Alabama will go down in history as mass incarceration's ground zero. The worst of the worst.
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JUST TALKED TO MR. WILLIE SIMMONS- he's received close to 100 cards & letters and because of generous donations to his commissary account, he's enjoyed a cherry pie and lemon soda and will be ordering his first pair of new shoes SINCE 1987. 1/2
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She tried to contact @GovernorKayIvey, but was told the Gov was in a meeting. She spoke with a staff member, expressing her deep misgivings about Nate's death warrant. She asked them to please grant mercy. She was told someone would call her back. No one ever did. 2/5.
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I've been trying to report these horrific stories for over a decade, while people in power do nothing. Sometimes ghastly cases get attention, but it quickly fades. Most people don't care, including lawmakers. Unless it's their family, it's not their problem. Morally rotten. 2/2.
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A more accurate headline: Prosecutors support innocence claim & say evidence clears him, but Missouri plans to execute Marcellus Williams anyway, against wishes of victim's family. Insane. Sick. Terrifying.
Prosecutors now say he’s innocent but Missouri plans to execute him anyway. This is insane. And sick. And terrifying. What are we doing? #EndTheDeathPenalty .
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"They just want him dead. I did at one time too. But when God gets hold of your heart and demands forgiveness and mercy, I have to follow that," she said. "I hated them but I knew in my heart that was wrong. It saddens me that an innocent man will be executed." 3/5.
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Daughter texting me from her 8th grade social studies class asking for Alabama prison death data. They are discussing prison problems in Ecuador & she is pointing out problems in local prisons are much, much worse. That's my baby girl! ✊.
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Ms. Simmons feels for the family of #NathanielWoods and says she'll pray for them. "My heart goes out to them. Losing a family member is very hard. I pray God's mercy on them. I know the pain they're going to feel." She was sobbing as we got off the phone. " 5/5.
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“I’m leaving with love, peace and light,” were his last words. And then Kenneth Smith writhed & thrashed as the state suffocated him. Shame on us.
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The best peaches in the world are from Chilton County, Alabama. Will die on this hill. Sorry, Georgia.
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A BEAUTIFUL DAY! Sean Worsley, the disabled veteran sentenced to prison in Alabama for possession of marijuana (medical) has been released! He was granted parole a few weeks ago. #seanworsley
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If mass incarceration makes us safer, why do states with the most crowded prisons also have the highest crime? Alabama should be one of the safest places in the world.
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Most annoying take on Alabama: "Why would anyone live there?" Alabama is a diverse, fascinating, complicated place full of creative energy & beautiful humans who love her, despite her mistakes & problem children. We get pissed off at her too, but we want to make her better.
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Thanks to everyone for amplifying Mr. Bettis's situation. Here's more of my reporting on Alabama's parole failures and how it's impacting minimum-custody work facilities (which are supposed to be short-term stays) .
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She told me her brother was an honorable man. Her family grieved his death and suffered for years after the crime. She is not against the death penalty but believes Nate is not responsible. "He was just a loud-mouthed kid," she said. "This madness has got to stop." 4/5.
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@dionnewarwick My friend Ron McKeithen out of prison after 37 years! Ron was sentenced to life without parole for a robbery he committed at age 21 because he had 3 prior property crimes on his record & Alabama's habitual offender law mandated the sentence. Today he is 58 & free! #dionnewarwick
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"The best turd in the sewer is still shit," should be the new branding for the Alabama governor's race.
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Heard from a man in an Alabama prison who was expecting to go up for parole this year. Instead, he got a letter saying he won't be considered until 2039. This is due to a change in the law regarding consecutive sentences, part of 2019 legislation that extended punishments. 1/2.
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I want you to know Michael Schumacher. Like Willie Simmons, he's serving life without parole in Alabama's horrific prisons for crimes he committed decades ago. In 1985, Michael, at 24, robbed a grocery store, stealing $147. No one was physically hurt. He turns 60 this year. 1/12
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You have permission to empathize with all people in prison, not just the wrongfully convicted. Everyone deserves humanity and grace, especially our brothers and sisters who committed crimes. The world needs more mercy, less contempt.
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I had a heart attack Monday night. It is still hard to say out loud. I am 43 w no major health problems, yet now strapped to machines, pumped w meds & undergoing tests, I am so grateful for this life, and that I am still in it. TO BE ALIVE is the greatest gift.
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A man serving life without parole told me about a class he teaches in his prison dorm on recidivism. I asked him if this was hard bc he will never get out. "Every time someone leaves here, they take a little of me with them." I'm continually amazed by the goodness in people. 💜.
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🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯.
Ted Lieu: "Really, the question today is not when does life begin, it's who makes that decision. Do you want MAGA politicians making that decision, or do you want the woman to make that decision in consultation with her faith and doctor and family?"
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Alabama wanted Joe to die in prison. Once sentenced to LWOP, he's now free and doing great things. Let's create pathways out of prison for people like Joe condemned by arcane, overly punitive laws. Congratulations Joe!.
Today, we're celebrating with client Joe Bennett as he passed his test and received his driver's license! Less than four months after his release, Joe has a full-time job and is now a licensed driver. Keep soaring Joe!
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@DirtyD76 I've been reading the FB comments and tons of people in her area are offering to pay. I'm trying to make contact with her through a neighbor. I'll post more info if I get it. TY!.
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I am still deeply troubled by police cuffing and arresting an 82 y/o Black woman for failure to pay trash fees. I am troubled by system actors who do not see what's wrong with this. But I've been amazed at the response of people near and far wanting to help. FOCUS ON THE HELPERS.
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Scariest thing witnessed in my career? Walking through a solitary confinement unit in an Alabama prison. Dozens of caged men screaming in anguish behind steel doors, but the jailers seemed unfazed, then offered refreshments to the media afterwards. Authoritarianism is ghastly.
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Someone left this note in @arabinalabama's bag at a gym in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. His response? A note to his children that said, "Keep your chin high, be proud of who you are, and where you come from. Ignorant people should be taught and loved, make that your mission."
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This is why people want to defund the police. In Alabama, the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, @team_sheriff, put up a Christmas tree decorated with mugshots "to show how many Thugs we have taken off the streets." This is beyond sickening.
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HOLY CRAP ONE OF MY POEMS IS GETTING PUBLISHED NEXT WEEK. JUST GOT THE EMAIL FROM THE PUBLISHER. I'M 46, Y'ALL, & HAVE NEVER PUBLISHED A POEM BEFORE!!!! SUCH A THRILL! #KeepGoing #amwriting.
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@astroeric12 The first time I heard about it I thought for sure the person was being extorted. So I called & they were like “oh we’ve imposed parole fees since 1972.” I asked how it supports supervision & was told the money just goes into the state’s general fund budget. 🤯.
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Wanting people in prison to be treated humanely, to have opportunities for rehabilitation, to be kept safe & served healthy food & to have a meaningful & fair chance at release- none of this is soft on crime. It’s called being a good human being.
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Today I spoke to the mother of Charles Braggs, who died in solitary confinement in an Alabama prison last year. The official cause of death was suicide, but he had injuries all over his body & meth in his system. "It's been 8 months of hell because I miss my son," she said. 1/6
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I have muted & blocked more people today than ever. It’s amazing how upset people get when you tell them prisons are a failed, criminal institution.
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An incredibly illuminating moment at a recent parole hearing in Alabama. Instead of listing her son's accomplishments in prison, a mother decided to tell the parole board about the violence & suffering her son has experienced for the last 25 years. Watch what happened. 1/7
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A reminder that state offices are closed in Alabama because it's JEFFERSON DAVIS'S BIRTHDAY. Can we please stop honoring failed confederate leaders & slavery supporters?!?.
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Despite outrage across the world about his LWOP sentence for a $9 robbery, Alabama lawmakers have done nothing to fix the habitual offender law & cases like Willie Simmons, yet Willie still writes me sometimes just to tell me thanks for exposing his case 2 years ago. -1
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Alabama’s parole board held 32 hearings Wednesday & granted ZERO paroles, the same day lawmakers voted to build mega-prisons with COVID relief money to “solve” the crisis of overcrowding, understaffing, corruption and deadly violence. See a pattern?.
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Thunderstorm underway & I found them in their safe place. Such little boo-boos! 🐶❤️ #dogsoftwitter
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Massive line to vote at Avondale library in Birmingham, AL. Over an hour wait. 🤯 People who’ve voted here for years say they have never experienced this! Line stretches across Avondale Park. Everyone smiling! #Vote2024 #Election2024
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July 8, Joe Davis died in state custody after 40 plus years in prison. Davis died a year after a court reduced his life without parole sentence, making him parole eligible, but a hearing was never scheduled. He also tried to get medical furlough but the system said no. 1/3
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On this international #WrongfulConvictionDay I lift up Toforest Johnson, on Alabama's death row for 25 years. No physical/forensic evidence & a solid alibi, the state used a paid earwitness to convict & hid the payment for 17 years. He has always maintained his innocence. 1/4
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Every year I send a photo of a tree to a man in prison I know. He hasn't touched a tree in over 35 years. Growing up in rural Alabama, trees are something he misses the most, especially in the fall. Here's this year's tree.
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5 years ago today I had a heart attack at 43-years old. Today I went on a solo 4-mile hike & feel excellent. I thought my life was over, but it was just a new beginning. Grateful for every single day! #scad #heartattack #hearthealth ❤️
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Tempted to tweet that Alabama's gubernatorial ads are utterly absurd, cringy and full of shit, but instead, here's a photo of the blueberry swirl cheesecake I baked this weekend: authentic, beautiful & true, unlike Alabama's politicians.
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Five families now say their loved one's body was returned from an Alabama prison missing organs. Class action lawsuit in the works for unauthorized organ removal. Every time I think this horrific system can't look worse, it tops itself.
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@Hedduk The only way you can view that as good crime prevention policy is to see him as less than human.
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This is the space where I've reported deaths inside Alabama prisons for years. Some of the dead had no other public account of what happened to them. As a self-employed journalist, I'm not sure where else to do this, but I know the reporting cannot stop.
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From autopsy report of 81 y/o man who died in prison: pressure ulcers on heels, feet, shoulder & hip, which had gone into necrosis on heels. Advanced dementia, end-stage kidney disease, severe coronary artery disease and failure to thrive. That's how old people die in prison.
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What we don't know about shooting inside Huffman High: How did a gun get in? Why are police calling this an accident? Is there such a thing as an accidental shooting inside a school? We know the school has metal detectors and they work. But are they being used? A lot to learn.
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The political ads in Alabama are pure hyperbolic trash. It is depressing to watch "leaders" pander pander pander to the lowest common denominator & not mention any real problems or solutions. GARBAGE. 🤮.
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THREAD:This is Henry before he got a death-in-prison sentence, aka life without parole. An Army veteran who became addicted to drugs while stationed overseas, he committed 4 robberies in Alabama in which no one was physically injured, the largest amount he stole was $103. (1)
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Where can I get an industrial strength pedicure once I’m fully vaccinated? I’m talking scalding vat of battery acid type pedicure. Or the kind where you put feet in an aquarium of flesh eating fish.
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Just saw a great moment in a hospital waiting room. 2 incarcerated men waiting on appts, handcuffed & shackled, each escorted by 2 officers. A man asked the officers if he could buy them sodas. They declined. “No, I’m talking about them,” he said, pointing to the guys in chains.
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This is the most appalling & immoral waste of taxpayer money in the history of Alabama's appalling and immoral legacy of wasting taxpayer money.
The final amount is in. The State of Alabama will spend $1.082 billion for a new prison, the most expensive prison ever built in the United States. $270,500 per bed.
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Demonstrators in downtown Birmingham opposed to Alabama’s execution of #KennethSmith by nitrogen hypoxia. #deathpenalty
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In Alabama, we stand for prisons with violent deaths in appalling numbers. We stand for one in 10 citizens w no health insurance. We stand for the 2nd highest rate of gun violence in nation. We stand for executing elderly, disabled people. We do not stand for every life.
In Alabama, we stand for life. Always will. Say a prayer for life today.
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This man has served 18 years, thought he'd be considered for parole this year, but now has to do 18 more years before he'll even be considered for parole. He lives in the faith/honor dorm and has a 15-year clear record, but the parole system obviously doesn't care about that. 2/2.
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