For Immediate Release:
November 6, 2026
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
William Califf (334) 604-3230
(Montgomery, Ala) – Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction of Benjamin Adam Nowell, 39, of Dothan, for the July 7, 2022 capital murder of Brittany Phillips.
In the early morning hours of July 7, 2022, Nowell, who was Phillips’s ex-boyfriend, followed a vehicle occupied by Phillips and a male companion to the end of Knowles Drive in the Webb community and fired a single shot, striking Phillips in the face killing her. Nowell had just been released from a prison work-release program the day before. After an intensive 12-hour manhunt, Nowell was captured near the scene of the shooting. Nowell was convicted of the capital murder of Phillips on September 30, 2025.
Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman successfully prosecuted this case and obtained the guilty verdict. Nowell was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and he was seeking to have his conviction overturned on appeal.
The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm Nowell’s conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, October 30, 2026.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Steve Dodd for his successful work on this case. Marshall also thanked District Attorney Russ Goodman and his staff for their valuable assistance in obtaining the conviction.
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