Judge denies defense request that DA's office not be allowed to prosecute murder retrial

Kevin Andre Towles

Etowah County Circuit Judge David Kimberley denied a defense request Wednesday that Etowah county prosecutors step down in the second capital murder trial of Kevin Andre Towles.  Defense attorneys contended there’s an appearance of impropriety in the district attorney’s office prosecuting the case, because Jody Willoughby — appointed DA in August — shared office space in Dani Bone’s building during the time Bone was preparing to defend Towles in the first trial.  Towles was convicted and sentenced to death in December 2009 in the beating death of Geontae Glass, the 5-year-old son of his girlfriend, Shalinda Glass. She pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in the case and was sentenced to life in prison.Towles’ case was remanded to the Etowah County courts for retrial last year after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Towles’ older son should not have been allowed to testify during the trial. The older child told jurors of being removed from Towles’ home because of harsh discipline meted out by the defendant.

Towles is scheduled to come to trial again in November.