For Immediate Release:
July 14, 2025
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 Montrel Dwight Austin, 31, of Center Point, for the 2020 murder of Emilio Elliott, Jr. Austin was convicted in the Jefferson County Circuit Court on May 17, 2024.
In April 2020, Austin went to an area known as the Southtown housing project to take a friend to get his haircut and to purchase drugs from Elliott. Austin was observed by witnesses approaching Elliott’s vehicle with a gun in his hand. Elliott was in the process of selling drugs to Austin when Austin got out of the car with his gun and began firing shots into Elliott’s vehicle. Austin fired multiple shots at Elliott, and he fell to the ground with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. Austin contended at trial that Elliott was the first one to produce a weapon and claimed self-defense which was rejected by the jury.
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr’s office successfully prosecuted this case and obtained the guilty verdict. Austin was sentenced to forty years’ imprisonment. Austin sought to have his conviction reversed 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 Austin’s convictions. The Court did so in a decision issued Friday, June 20, 2025.
Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General Anne Adams Hill for her successful work on this case and thanks District Attorney Danny Carr and his staff for their valuable assistance in defending the murder conviction.
-30-
