Jody Byrd has been sentenced to 99 years in prison

Jody Byrd was sentenced today to serve 99 years in prison for the 1999 murder of Desta Dodson Byrd. Judge Meigs sent a strong message that, no matter how pervasive it is, domestic violence is still a criminal act and that no one should get away with murder. Given the overwhelming amount of evidence against Jody, we feel that this is a just and fair sentence, and we hope that it brings some peace to all of those who were affected by Desta’s  brutal, senseless murder.

We want to thank all of those who have supported our efforts to find justice in this case. We also would like to thank the jurors for their service and Judge Meigs for presiding over this case. We also want to thank the Alabama Bureau of Investigations, including the team of investigators and support staff who contributed to this investigation over the years.

Finally, we want to thank the prosecution team of Assistant District Attorney Scott Gilliland and District Attorney Pamela Casey. They took over the prosecution of this case almost 14 years after the murder, and within a short time, were able to put together the pieces of this puzzle and get a killer off our streets for a long, long time. Because of their actions, all of us are safer tonight. .