CALERA, Ala. — Twelve years after a Bibb County woman was found shot in the head in her driveway, authorities have charged her husband at the time in her death.
William Jody Byrd was arrested Friday and charged with capital murder in the death of Desta Byrd, Fourth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Michael Jackson's office announced Saturday.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Ransom told The Birmingham News that he could not discuss what evidence led them to charge Byrd 12 years later. He did say that the husband had already been a person of interest.
"He's been one of the persons of interest we've been looking at," Ransom said.
The case had troubled the family for years and Friday's arrest comes months after the family unveiled a billboard campaign in January offering a $30,000 reward for information on her death. It's not immediately known whether the campaign led to the arrest.
On Feb. 25, 1999, Desta Byrd, 29, was found shot in the head, laying in the driveway at her home in Brierfield. Her husband's gun was found nearby.
Her father, Ronald Dodson, told the newspaper he had "mixed emotions" upon learning of his daughter's ex-husband in the arrest.
"I don't know what to say," he said. "I'm glad he's arrested. I'm sad to think that as much trust as we put in him, he could even think about doing something like that to her."
Dodson said a new investigator took over the case and was scheduled to talk with Jody Byrd, but he did not yet know what new developments led to Byrd's arrest.
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