In September 2021, the community of Homewood, Alabama, was shaken by the discovery of the body of 30-year-old Johnnie Will Anderson III. A U.S. Army veteran and a loving father to his 10-year-old daughter, Anderson was found in a state of decomposition in his apartment at the Park at Buckingham on Aspen Circle on September 10, 2021. Investigators determined that he had been deceased for several days. An autopsy later confirmed that Anderson's death was a homicide caused by strangulation, with a necktie and a dog leash found around his neck.
The investigation into Anderson's death quickly led to a suspect, Alexandria Nicole Davis. Davis was apprehended the day after Anderson's body was discovered, on September 11, 2021, while she was driving Anderson's stolen grey Dodge Charger. Her arrest was not solely in connection with the murder; she was also a suspect in an unrelated stabbing of a 36-year-old woman in Birmingham that occurred just hours before her capture. Authorities had issued a lookout for a suspect in the stabbing with a vehicle description that matched Anderson's car.
Following her arrest, Alexandria Nicole Davis, then 29 years old, was charged with the capital murder of Johnnie Will Anderson III. The charges specified that the murder occurred during the course of a robbery, with allegations that Davis had stolen Anderson's car keys, cell phone, and debit or credit cards. At the time of her arrest for Anderson's murder, Davis was already out on bond for unrelated drug charges from an August 30, 2021, arrest in Hoover. She also had a prior conviction for vehicle theft in 2020.
In the subsequent legal proceedings, the Jefferson County District Attorney's office announced its intention to seek the death penalty against Davis. The case, however, faced a significant challenge when it was revealed that key evidence had been mishandled. A necktie and a dog leash found at the crime scene, considered critical pieces of evidence, were inadvertently thrown away by Homewood Police Department employees. This led to a motion by Davis's defense attorneys to have the capital murder charges dismissed, arguing that the loss of this evidence prevented their ability to conduct DNA testing and thus hindered her right to a fair trial. Despite this issue, the prosecution maintained that they had sufficient evidence, including photographs of the discarded items, to proceed with the case.
