Etowah murder suspect will not face the death penalty

An Etowah County Circuit  ruled Thursday that the death penalty is off the table for a 53 year old Etowah county man accused of murdering his wife.  Judge Allen Millican  issued the ruling in the case of Roy Thomas “Tommy” Smith.   Smith is charged with capital murder for the death of his wife, 44 year old Carla Parton Smith. Her body was found Nov. 1, 2010, in the trunk of her car, which was parked in a gravel lot.   While the district attorneys office will not seek the death penalty, since this is a capital murder case, the jury still could have voted to give Tommy Smith the death penalty, should he be convicted and the trial move into a penalty phase Judge Millican said The jury will not be death-penalty certified at the trial.   Carla Smith, a nursing supervisor in Riverview Regional Medical Center's emergency department, did not show up for work on the morning of Nov. 1, 2010. Her body was found about 3:10 p.m. that day by ambulance personnel who recognized the car. A preliminary autopsy report showed she died from manual strangulation.