By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Two female inmates who were convicted in Escambia County Circuit Court, including one who tried to rob the local Walmart, were rejected in their respective bids for parole, as was a Brewton man convicted for the third time six years ago of dealing drugs, during hearings by the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles.
Therease Antoine Fletcher
Fletcher, a Huntsville resident before she was sent to prison, was convicted in 2023 of the 2021 robbery at Atmore’s Walmart. Fletcher, who was caught in a wooded area near the store shortly after the heist, took an undisclosed amount of cash after telling Walmart employees she had a weapon. The cash was reportedly recovered.
She was sentenced to 5 years on one count each of first-degree robbery and third-degree robbery and had served just over a year on the date of her hearing. She also has been given credit for slightly more than 600 days that she remained in the county jail.
Currently housed at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, Fletcher will not be released from state custody until September 17, 2028 unless she is granted parole or a pardon.
Kimberly Renee Madden
Madden, who at various times has listed addresses in Brewton and Castleberry on arrest reports, was sentenced to 20 years after her 2023 conviction for manufacturing a controlled substance, first-degree possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance.
She had served less than two years at Tutwiler but had been given credit for 97 days of jail time and 1,825 days of “pre time served.”
Madden’s current prison term is her fourth. She served almost every day of an 18-month sentence she was handed in 2020, when she was convicted on two counts of first-degree theft and one count of receiving stolen property.
She was given a 5-year sentence in 2015 for manufacturing and possessing a controlled substance. Her first prison visit was in 2003, when she served slightly more than three years of a 10-year sentence for her conviction on two counts of second-degree theft and one count of third-degree burglary.
Without parole or a pardon, she will remain in prison until December 23, 2037.
Ron Merrell Reid
Reid was sentenced to 20 years in prison after his 2018 conviction on five counts of distributing a controlled substance. He had spent more than 7 years behind state bars and was given credit for the 279 days he spent in the county jail.
The Brewton man was one of 19 people arrested after Brewton police conducted a series of undercover drug buys. His current sentence, being served at Limestone Correctional Facility, marks the third time he has been sent to prison, each time for the same crime.
Reid was convicted in 2014 on three counts of drug distribution and served all but a few days of a 2-year sentence. In 2011 he served a 3-year stint after his first conviction for distributing a controlled substance.
His minimum release date, without a pardon or parole, is June 30, 2032.