By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Three Atmore men — one convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2006, one who committed several local burglaries and one who committed a vicious assault on a county jailer — were each denied parole during recent hearings by the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles.
John Daniel Dewberry was found guilty in Mobile County of the 2006 murder of Jeanette “Renee” Lowe and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.
Court documents show that Dewberry hit Lowe in the head several times, resulting in her death.
The convicted killer, who has been behind bars for almost 16 years, is currently housed at Ventress Correctional Facility. He will again be eligible for parole in five years.
Joshua Brian Ellis, currently housed at the state corrections department’s Hamilton Work Release facility, had served just over three years of a 15-year sentence when he was rejected for parole on July 14.
Ellis was convicted in 2014 of third-degree burglary after it was proven in court that he broke into three Atmore homes — one on 5th Avenue and one each on Oak and Poplar streets — and stole jewelry and other items from them. His minimum release date without a pardon or parole is February 20, 2023.
He was also convicted in 2015 on three counts of third-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree theft. He was sentenced to — and served — three years in prison.
Tevin D. Watts was sentenced in 2018 to 15 years after his conviction for felony assault on an Escambia County Detention Center correctional officer while Watts was in jail on one count each of disorderly conduct, third-degree escape and violation of probation.
Watts, currently housed at Fountain Correctional Facility, had served less than three years of the sentence when his parole hearing was held August 3.
He was also charged and found guilty — twice of second-degree assault and once of second-degree escape — while in state prison in 2019 and 2020. He was sentenced on those charges to a total of 40 years, but the sentences are running concurrently with the assault sentence.
His minimum release date without pardon or parole is May 4, 2024.