Execution of Jeremy Williams set for today in Kamarie Holland murder
EDITOR’S NOTE: This report contains graphic and disturbing details related to the murder of a 5-year-old child. Some readers may find the information difficult to read. Discretion is advised.
The state of Alabama is scheduled to execute Jeremy Tremaine Williams today, nearly five years after the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland, whose disappearance began a case spanning Columbus, Georgia, and Phenix City, Alabama.
Williams’ execution window begins at 12:00 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, and runs through 6:00 a.m. Friday, Aug. 14. Unless the execution is delayed by court action or executive intervention, Williams is expected to be put to death during that window.
Holland was reported missing in Columbus on Dec. 13, 2021. Investigators quickly focused on Williams, who was among the last people known to have been with the child.
According to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, investigators learned during their investigation that Williams had allegedly made statements about sexually abusing a five-year-old girl. A subsequent search of his Columbus property led investigators to a Phenix City address provided by Williams’ wife. Officers entered the vacant duplex and found Holland’s body underneath a tarp in the basement.
Williams admitted killing Holland
Williams was eventually taken into custody at a Phenix City motel.
On Christmas night 2021, Williams asked to speak with a lieutenant at the Russell County Jail. During the interview, he discussed crimes against children and eventually admitted responsibility for Holland’s death.
When investigators told Williams that a child’s body had been found underneath a tarp, he acknowledged that he had killed her and remembered the location where the body had been found.
According to the court record, Williams told investigators that he took Holland to a duplex in Phenix City, where he sexually assaulted her before strangling her. The court said his account was consistent with the forensic pathologist’s determination that Holland died from asphyxia.
The evidence presented against Williams included his own admissions, forensic evidence and material recovered from his cellphone. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals later described the evidence supporting the capital-murder convictions as overwhelming.
Capital-murder convictions
Williams pleaded guilty to multiple capital-murder charges in March 2024.
The charges involved Holland’s age, the kidnapping, rape and sodomy that occurred before her death. A jury subsequently found Williams guilty of the capital offenses, and he was sentenced to death.
Williams also pleaded guilty to several noncapital offenses, including first-degree sodomy, sexual abuse of a child under 12, production of obscene material, abuse of a corpse, first-degree human trafficking and conspiracy to commit first-degree human trafficking.
The sentencing court found multiple aggravating circumstances, including that the crime involved rape and kidnapping, that Holland was under 14 years old and that the offenses were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. The court determined the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and imposed the death penalty.
Williams wanted the execution process expedited
Williams later made the unusual decision to stop pursuing his appeals.
In early 2025, he sent letters to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office stating that he wanted to drop his appeals and have an execution date set. Because death sentences are subject to mandatory appellate review under Alabama law, Williams could not simply end the process on his own.
A Russell County judge later determined Williams knowingly and voluntarily chose to represent himself on appeal and waive his right to present additional issues. During the hearing, Williams acknowledged that pursuing no additional appeals would mean he would face execution sooner.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ultimately reviewed the case and affirmed Williams’ capital-murder convictions and death sentence. The court found no plain error in the proceedings and determined the death sentence was appropriate.
Execution scheduled for today
Today, the case reaches its final stage.
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state of Alabama during the execution window that began at midnight.
The execution comes nearly five years after Holland’s death and after years of court proceedings that ultimately left Williams’ death sentence intact.
For the Chattahoochee Valley, the case remains one of the most disturbing crimes in recent history, involving the disappearance of a young Columbus girl and the discovery of her body across the state line in Phenix City.
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