10 Most Dangerous Inmates Held Inside Holman Correctional Facility Prison

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Holman Correctional Facility holds some of the most dangerous prisoners in the Alabama Department of Corrections system.   Today we look at ten of the most dangerous and infamous prisoners inside this facility, including one prisoner that may not have committed the crime at all!   💬 COMMENT below and let us know what you think!   #holman #correctionalfacility #alabama #truecrime   ✏️ Vidello Content Guarantee ✏️   We guarantee that the work you see on this channel is unique, original and created completely by ourselves in a professional recording studio using Sony Vegas 11, this also includes thumbnail images which are created in Photoshop Elements 11   💬 SOCIAL MEDIA 💬   Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Videllopro  Twitter - https://twitter.com/William84781787  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vidello/  Medium - https://vidello.medium.com/

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00:00One of the most violent prisons in Alabama, Holman Correctional Facility also houses the

00:05state's death row inmates and has many incidents of stabbings, riots and overcrowding. Built to

00:13hold 13,318 inmates, today Holman holds over 24,000 and has only a skeleton staff, many of which come

00:25under daily attacks from inmates. Join us as we go through the razor wire and check out the 10 most

00:32dangerous prisoners held inside Alabama's Holman Correctional Facility, including one who may not

00:40have actually committed the crime at all. Welcome to our video on Holman. Drop a comment down below

00:46and let me know what you think about these convicts. I really don't think number 10 actually did it.

00:52Number 10, Toforest Johnson. Toforest Johnson was convicted of capital murder for the 1995 killing

01:00of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy in Alabama. The deputy was shot in the head while

01:07working as a security guard at a hotel. Johnson was convicted based on the testimony of a single

01:14witness, Violet Ellison, who claimed to have overheard him confessing to the murder during a jailhouse

01:22phone call. There was no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony that connected him to the crime scene.

01:29Additionally, over a dozen alibi witnesses testified that Johnson was at a nightclub across town at the

01:37time of the murder. A jury voted 10 to 2 and recommend a death sentence which the trial court imposed.

01:45Johnson is currently on death row at the Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama. The prosecution's

01:52case has faced significant scrutiny. It was later revealed that Ellison was paid $5,000 for her testimony,

02:00which was not disclosed to Johnson's lawyers at the time of the trial. The prosecution's theory of the

02:07crime also changed five times throughout five different court proceedings and Johnson's case

02:14is often cited as one of the biggest possible miscarriages of justice in US history. Former

02:21prosecutors, US Senator Doug Jones, The Innocence Project and criminal justice reform advocates have

02:29filed a new round of briefs urging a court to give Alabama death row inmate Topher S. Johnson a new

02:37trial. Drop a comment down below and let me know your thought on this case. It's not very often a

02:43conviction of this sort comes across my desk, but this one had me take a great deal of notice.

02:50Number 9. Tony Barksdale. Tony Barksdale was convicted of two counts of capital murder

02:57for the shooting death of 19-year-old Julie Rhodes in Alexander City, Alabama in 1995.

03:05Barksdale, along with two other men, stole a car and were trying to get back to Guntersville,

03:12Alabama. After failing to get a ride, Barksdale said he would jack somebody. He was the only one

03:19in the group armed with a gun. They flagged down Julie Rhodes, got into her car and Barksdale directed

03:27her to a dead-end street. Barksdale then shot her twice, once in the face and once in the back,

03:34before pushing her out of the car. For his crimes, Barksdale was sentenced to death.

03:41He is currently incarcerated at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama, where he is on death row.

03:50Since his conviction, Barksdale has filed multiple appeals, including a federal habeas corpus action,

03:57and a request for a certificate of appealability. He has raised issues such as ineffective assistance

04:05of counsel and due process concerns regarding the findings of fact and conclusions of law in his

04:13state habeas proceedings. At the time of his sentencing, it was also noted that he had a prior

04:20conviction for armed robbery in Virginia. Number 8, James Edward Barber. James Edward Barber was

04:28convicted of capital murder for the 2001 killing of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in Harvest, Alabama. The

04:36murder was considered capital because it was committed during a robbery. Barber, a handyman who had a social

04:43relationship with Epps' daughter, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse.

04:51A jury voted 11 to 1 and recommended a death sentence, which the trial court imposed.

04:58Barber was executed by lethal injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility

05:05in Alabama on July 21, 2023. At the time of his execution, he was 64 years old. Leading up to his

05:15execution, Barber's attorneys filed a motion to stay, arguing that a lethal injection would violate his

05:23Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment. The US Supreme Court denied the application

05:32for a stay of execution. Number 7, Bobby Baker Jr. Bobby Baker Jr. was convicted in Alabama of capital

05:41murder for the killing of his wife, Tracy Baker, during a first-degree kidnapping. He was also convicted

05:48of first-degree assault for shooting another individual and for discharging a firearm into an occupied

05:57dwelling. The events leading to the convictions occurred on April 5, 1994. After a physical altercation

06:05with another man, Bobby Baker Jr. went to a residence where his wife, Tracy, was located. He carried an AK-47

06:14assault rifle and, after being refused entry, he fired shots into the house. He then forced his way inside,

06:22found his wife and forced her into a vehicle. During this time, Tracy Baker was screaming that he was going

06:30to kill her. As he forced her into the car, he shot another person twice, hitting them in the legs. He then

06:38drove off with Tracy in the vehicle. The autopsy report showed that Tracy Baker was shot five times with

06:45bullets from the AK-47 assault rifle. A jury recommended a death sentence by a 10-2 vote for the capital murder

06:54conviction. The court followed this recommendation and sentenced him to death. He also received

07:01consecutive sentences of life imprisonment for the first-degree assault conviction and life

07:08imprisonment for the conviction of discharging a firearm into a dwelling. Number 6, Thomas

07:15Dale Ferguson. Thomas Dale Ferguson was convicted of capital murder for the 1997 shooting deaths of

07:23Harold Pugh, age 41, and his 11-year-old son Joey Pugh in Alabama. The murders occurred during a robbery

07:31as Ferguson and four co-defendants planned to steal a truck for a bank robbery. On July 20, 1997,

07:40Ferguson and his accomplices, Mark Moore, Michael Craig Maxwell, Donald Risley, and Keno Graham were

07:48looking for a vehicle to use in a bank robbery in Belmont, Mississippi. They encountered Harold and

07:56Joey Pugh at a boat landing. According to Ferguson's statement to police, Maxwell held the Pugh's at gunpoint

08:04and forced them into their boat. The group then travelled downstream. Ferguson claimed that he did

08:10not have a weapon and that Maxwell shot Harold and then he and Moore threw the bodies into the creek.

08:17Another co-defendant, Donald Risley, later testified that Ferguson was also armed with a gun. A jury found

08:26Ferguson guilty on four counts of capital murder, including murder committed during a robbery and

08:33murder of a person less than 14 years old. The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without

08:41parole by a vote of 11 to 1. However, the trial court judge overrode the jury's recommendation

08:50and sentenced Ferguson to death by electrocution. This practice of judicial override has since been

08:58abolished in Alabama, but the law was not retroactive and Ferguson's sentence stands.

09:06Number 5. Shonel Jackson. On April 25, 1997, Jackson and three co-defendants were in a stolen car

09:16looking for a vehicle to rob for its stereo system. They found Lefric Moore, who was driving a Chevrolet

09:23Caprice with a good stereo system, and decided to rob him. Jackson, who was armed with a .380 caliber

09:33pistol, pulled his stolen car in front of Moore's, causing a collision. He then got out and shot Moore,

09:40who later died from the wound. A jury convicted Jackson of capital murder and first-degree theft.

09:47The jury unanimously recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole

09:54for the capital murder conviction. However, the trial court judge, William Gordon, overrode the jury's

10:02recommendation and sentenced Jackson to death by electrocution. At the time, judicial override was

10:09permitted under Alabama law. The judge noted that while Jackson's age was a mitigating factor,

10:17it was outweighed by his extensive juvenile record. Jackson is currently on death row at the Holman

10:25Correctional Facility in Alabama. His case has gone through multiple appeals. One significant issue raised

10:33was the admissibility of his statements to the police, which he claimed were coerced.

10:39An appeals court remanded the case for a hearing to determine if his statements were voluntary.

10:45Additionally, a juror later expressed uncertainty about whether Jackson was the person who fired the

10:52fatal shot. Despite these challenges, his convictions and death sentence have been affirmed on appeal.

11:00Number 4. Courtney Lockhart. Courtney Lockhart was convicted of capital murder for the 2008

11:07kidnapping, robbery and murder of 18-year-old Auburn University student Lauren Burke in Auburn,

11:15Alabama. The crime was part of a violent crime spree that involved a string of armed robberies and

11:22carjackings in Alabama and Georgia. On March 4th, 2008, Lockhart kidnapped Burke at gunpoint,

11:30forcing her into her car. He drove her around for about 30 minutes, during which he complained about

11:36his life and unemployment. He also ordered Burke to undress, a charge of attempted rape for which he was

11:44later acquitted. When Burke tried to escape by jumping from the moving car, Lockhart shot her in the back.

11:50She was found on the side of a road and later died at a hospital. Lockhart then fled, taking Burke's credit

11:58card, iPod and $46. He confessed to the murder and other crimes after his arrest on March 7th. A jury

12:07convicted Lockhart of capital murder and unanimously recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without

12:15the possibility of parole. However, the trial court judge overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced

12:23Lockhart to death, citing his criminal history. Lockhart is currently on death row at the Holman

12:32Correctional Facility in Alabama. His case has been the subject of multiple appeals, challenging the

12:40admissibility of his confession and the effectiveness of his legal counsel. He has also appealed the

12:47judicial override of the jury's sentencing recommendation. Number three, Devin Moore. Devin

12:54Moore, whose birth name is Devin Darnell Thompson, was convicted of three counts of capital murder for

13:00the deaths of three law enforcement officers in Fayette, Alabama on June 7th, 2003. Moore was arrested on

13:09suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle and taken to the police station. While he was being booked,

13:15he was able to grab an officer's gun. He then shot and killed Fayette police officers Arnold Strickland

13:22and James Crump, as well as police dispatcher Leslie Ace Mealer. He then escaped in a stolen police car.

13:30Following his capture, Moore confessed to the killings, stating that he didn't want to go to jail.

13:37During his trial, his defence team argued that his actions were influenced by his frequent playing

13:43of the video game Grand Theft Auto and that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He

13:50was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection. As of July 2013, he was on death row at

13:58Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama, appealing his sentence. Number two, John Joseph de Blas.

14:07John Joseph de Blas was convicted of three counts of capital murder in connection with the 2010 deaths of

14:15his two young children, four-year-old Natalie Alexis de Blas and three-year-old Jonathan Chase de Blas.

14:23The murders were made capital because both victims were under the age of 14 and because two or more

14:30people were murdered as part of one course of conduct. In the months leading up to their deaths,

14:37both children were subjected to abuse. According to reports, Natalie was gagged and locked in a

14:43suitcase for an extended period and poisoned with antifreeze. Chase had his hands and feet taped,

14:50was gagged, had a broomstick strapped to his back and was forced to stand in a corner overnight.

14:58De Blas and his common-law wife, Heather Lievelle Keaton, blamed each other for the killings.

15:04After the children died, de Blas buried their bodies in wooded areas in Alabama and Mississippi. A jury

15:13convicted de Blas of three counts of capital murder. By a vote of 10 to 2, the jury recommended a death

15:21sentence which the trial court followed, sentencing him to death by lethal injection in January 2015.

15:31His death sentence was affirmed on appeal and he is currently incarcerated on death row at the Holman

15:38Correctional Facility in Alabama. Lievelle Keaton was also convicted and sentenced to death for her

15:46role in the crimes. Number one, Rex Alan Beckworth. Rex Alan Beckworth was convicted of capital murder

15:54for the death of Bessie Lee Thweet, an 87-year-old widow. The crime took place in her home in rural

16:02Houston County, Alabama in January 2000. Beckworth, along with his younger half-brother James Walker,

16:11broke into her house and shot her with a .22 caliber rifle before ransacking the house. After the crime,

16:19Beckworth was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona. While being transferred back to Alabama, he gave a tape

16:26recorded confession admitting his involvement. His confession aligned with the physical evidence found

16:32at the crime scene. In September 2002, a jury convicted Beckworth of capital murder. The jury

16:40recommended a death sentence by a 10-2 vote, which was affirmed by the trial court. He was placed on

16:47death row at Holman Prison on November 6th, 2002. Beckworth has filed multiple appeals and petitions

16:56for post-conviction relief, including claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and a claim under Brady

17:05versus Maryland, alleging that the prosecution failed to disclose exculpatory evidence. He also raised an

17:14Atkins claim, arguing that he is intellectually disabled and therefore should not be subject to the death

17:22penalty.

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