Alabama to Pay Victims’ Families $1M Over Suspect’s Parole
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama’s attorney general has announced the state will pay $1 million to the families of three slaying victims allegedly killed by a man on parole.
The three families will share the award. They allege that the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles wrongfully paroled and failed to supervise Jimmy O’Neal Spencer after releasing him in January 2018. Spencer is accused of killing Colton Lee, Marie Martin and Martha Reliford in Guntersville in July 2018.
Tommy James, an attorney representing the families, says they can now focus on the criminal case against Spencer.
Attorney General Steve Marshall described Spencer as a “career criminal” in a press release Friday. On two separate occasions, Spencer was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Spencer is awaiting trial on capital murder charges.
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This story has corrected the lawyer’s surname to James, not Jones.
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