By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
ATMORE — Willie B. Smith was put to death via lethal injection at William C. Holman Correctional Facility on Thursday evening, October 21, 2021.
Smith, 52, was convicted and sentenced to die for killing a Trussville woman in 1991. He and an accomplice, Angelica Willis, kidnapped Sharma Ruth Johnson from an ATM location near Center Point in the late evening hours of October 16 , 1991, withdrew $80 from her bank account, and then Smith shot and killed Johnson in a cemetery as she begged for her life. Smith and his victim were both 22 years old at the time.
The execution was scheduled for 6 p.m., however, it was delayed as officials waited to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court would issue a stay. The Court ultimately denied relief for Smith, and his execution went forward.
Smith died by lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m., according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.
According to Jeff Dunn, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, Johnson’s family issued a brief statement. “After waiting for 30 years, justice has been served.” Williams declined to make a final statement before his death.
On Feb. 11 of this year, the state called off Smith’s execution when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an injunction prohibiting his execution unless his pastor was with him.
Smith refused breakfast, lunch and a final meal, ADOC reported Thursday evening, but was observed eating snacks like M&Ms and barbecue potato chips prior to his execution. On Wednesday, Smith met with his spiritual adviser and attorneys. He received six phone calls Thursday — from a minister, attorneys and family members — and was visited again today by his attorneys, according to The Associated Press.
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Earlier this week, U.S. Chief District Judge Emily Marks denied a request for a preliminary injunction sought by Smith’s lawyers.
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered Marks to consider the injunction request, which she denied after ruling that Smith was not likely to prevail in the lawsuit, which was brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This means that Smith’s execution moved forward, pending a successful appeal by the court or a stay by the governor’s office. Smith’s execution occurred nearly 30 years to the day that Smith and an accomplice kidnapped and murdered their victim.
Smith’s attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court chose not to issue a stay of execution, allowing Smith’s execution to go forward.
Testimony at the trial revealed that Johnson had no prior relationship with Smith and Willis, and that she had been picked at random to be the victim of the crime.
Willis said Smith directed her to ask Johnson for directions to a fast-food restaurant on the night of Oct. 26, 1991. According to trial testimony, the two had no relationship with the victim and simply picked her to be the victim in the random crime.
When Willis asked Johnson where Krystal’s Hamburgers was located, Johnson said she did not know. At that time, Smith approached the car with a sawed-off shotgun and demanded Johnson get in the trunk of the car. The two suspects then got in the car, with Smith driving and Willis in the passenger’s seat, drove to the Huffman area, then back to the ATM where they withdrew the remaining $80 from the victim’s account.
Video from the bank was used to track down the suspects. It showed the incident at the ATM happened around 1:25 a.m. on Oct. 27. The suspects then drove to Huffman to pick up Willis’ brother. Willis testified that once her brother learned the woman was in the trunk, he taunted her. The three then drove to Zion Memorial Cemetery, where Smith shot Johnson, execution-style. Willis said before the shooting she and her brother tried to tell Smith he didn’t have to kill her. She said Smith told Johnson, “I’m going to have to kill you” because he thought she would call the police. He then shot her in the head.
A secret recording of Smith explaining to his friend what happened was later played in court.
“She said, ‘no I’m not [going to tell the police], I promise,’” Smith said in the recording while mimicking a female voice. “I said, ‘you a liar!’ Boom! then shot her in the head with that gun.”
Smith told his friend he had to shoot Johnson because her brother was a police officer.
After the shooting, the pair drove the victim’s car, with her dead body in the trunk, to the cemetery in Roebuck. Willis testified that Smith went back later and torched the vehicle.
Willis was given a 25-year sentence in exchange for her testimony. She was released from Tutwiler Prison after serving all 25 years and has graduated from Hope Inspired Ministries, a faith-based non-profit that provides training for employment.
Smith was originally sentenced to death by the electric chair, in 1992, but that has since been changed to death by lethal injection.
Since the conviction, Smith’s attorneys have made several appeals. In 2013, they claimed that the state gave their client antipsychotic drugs during his trial, rendering him unable to show emotion. In 2019, they appealed the death sentence, saying he only has an IQ of 70. In February of this year, The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the execution of Smith last minute after attorneys requested for him to have his pastor with him in the death chamber. Now, attorneys claim Smith was not given reasonable accommodation to opt into execution by nitrogen, a new method approved for executions in Alabama. Although courts have ruled to allow the execution to move forward, Smith’s attorneys are continuing to fight the execution.
The Alabama Department of Corrections allowed only one member of the media to witness the execution Thursday. That reporter was Kim Chandler from the Associated Press, as decided by ADOC.
The family members of the victim in the case have seen news headlines about the execution. They hope that people reading and watching the headlines are able to focus on the person Johnson was and on the lives she touched during her short time on earth.
A classmate of Johnson said she remembers her as quiet and kind.
“I’ve known her since seventh grade,” said Shelley Luna. “She was one of the sweetest people you would ever meet. Just very humble.”
Luna said she still remembers where she was and how she felt when she heard about Johnson’s death on the news.
“For a long time, I wouldn’t go outside by myself at night, because of her death,” Luna remembered.
Sharma Ruth Johnson is now resting in peace at Jefferson Memorial Gardens, in Trussville.
Erica Thomas contributed to this report.