Jury Selection to begin in Etowah murder trial

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Etowah County in the Capital Murder trial of Roy Thomas Smith. Smith is accused in the 2010 murder of his  44 year old wife Carla Parton Smith . Carla Smith’s body was found in the trunk of her car which had been parked in a gravel lot off of Brooke Avenue in Gadsden. Ambulance workers made the discovery after recognizing the car and knowing that Carla Smith had not shown up for work that morning at Riverview Regional Medical Center. A preliminary autopsy report shows that she died of manual strangulation. The Etowah County DA’s office has said that they will not be seeking the death penalty in this case; and Etowah County Circuit Judge Allen Millican has said that he will not certify the jury to choose the death penalty as an option.