Georgia man pleads guilty to carjacking murder

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Posted 7:30AM on Tuesday, July 16, 2002

EVERGREEN, ALABAMA - A man pleaded guilty to capital murder for the shooting death last year of a Montgomery forester while on the run from Georgia authorities, avoiding execution. Herlan O'Brien Davis, already convicted of killing a convenience store customer during the same flight from police, told Conecuh County Circuit Judge Sam Welch he killed Wallace Lee Smith Jr. while robbing him of his 2000 Ford pickup on State Road 41. Under the agreement Monday, the 23-year-old Davis faces life in prison without parole. Defense attorney Paul Hardin Sr. said the deal was the only way to save Davis from the possibility of execution. He and his team agreed not to contest the state's evidence or present evidence on Davis' behalf. District Attorney Tommy Chapman said the agreement was a rare one but ``something the victim's family wanted.'' Davis and girlfriend Angela Anderson fled Columbus, Ga., in early March 2001 when Davis became a suspect in a murder there. He was also wanted on weapons charges and probation violations. The couple wound up at the home of Anderson's grandmother in Camden, Ala. In Camden, Davis shot down 39-year-old Bruce Cunningham, a customer at a convenience store, according to testimony in Wilcox County Circuit Court in April. Witnesses said Davis fled in Cunningham's 1995 Nissan, picking up Anderson as the two left Camden. Just south of the Monroe County line, Davis wrecked the Nissan and began trying to flag down traffic on Alabama 41 as the car caught fire, police say. Witnesses testified they saw Davis pull a man from a white pickup. Authorities say that man was Smith, a 42-year-old forester from Montgomery who apparently stopped to help the stranded motorists. Smith was found dead of a gunshot wound along the road, his pickup stuck in a nearby ditch. Davis and Anderson were captured hours later hiding in a creek after dozens of officers combed the dense woods in remote northern Monroe County. Davis was convicted of capital murder in Cunningham's slaying in April. He has not yet been sentenced. Federal car jacking and weapons charges are still pending against him. The trial in connection to Smith's slaying was moved to Evergreen because of pretrial publicity in Monroeville. Anderson, 22, was charged with capital murder in Smith's death. Her case has not been scheduled. But prosecutors said she will testify this week against Davis. Testimony is set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Conecuh County Circuit Court.