Benjamin Adam Nowell (L) via Houston County Sheriff’s Office, (R) Carla Harrell pictured during an interview with WDNH.
An Alabama grandmother mourning the loss of her daughter, a mother of three, called out the victim’s ex-boyfriend after the murder suspect smiled in court.
Carla Harrell told ABC affiliate WDHN that Benjamin Adam Nowell, 35, should either spend the rest of his days in prison or be put to death by the state for the July 2022 murder of her daughter Brittany Phillips. Nowell, who allegedly committed that crime one day after exiting a work release program related to theft and drug charges, was described by one Phillips friend as the “crazy ex-boyfriend that kept stalking her.” Nowell allegedly followed Phillips as she gave someone else a ride from a party. He’s accused of shooting Phillips in the head after intentionally hitting into her vehicle.
Houston County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Nowell has been held without bond on capital murder and criminal trespass charges since July 7, 2022.
Harrell was furious and in disbelief that the capital murder suspect was “sitting there smiling” in court “after he had done that to my child.”
Brittany Phillips, pictured in a WDHN segment.
“I want him to go to prison for the rest of his life or the death penalty,” said Harrell, the grandmother to Phillips’ two boys and daughter.
Nowell pleaded not guilty.
An obituary for Phillips said that she was “dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.” Phillips was born in Florida and adopted by Harrell. Phillips went on to graduate from Ashford High School in Alabama.
“Brittany was a good ole country girl who enjoyed pickup trucks, tailgating, dirt roads, country dancing and her family. She could go from four-wheel riding, covered in mud, to a beauty queen in a minute,” the obituary said. “Carla knew from the first moment she saw Brittany, she fell in love with her little, brown-eyed girl.”
Phillips was 29.
Trial against Nowell will reportedly begin on May 22.
Watch the WDHN segment here:
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Brittany Phillips’ mom calls out Benjamin Adam Nowell