DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) – On Friday, a jury found a man guilty of murdering a 62-year-old Decatur man in 2021.
On October 24, 2025, Spencer Newton Harwell, 48, was convicted of murder in the 2021 shooting of Frankie Roland Smith. Harwell was also found guilty of trafficking in methamphetamines.
Harwell was arrested on June 10, 2021, after Decatur Police Department officers responded to a shooting call at Decatur Door Services on Highway 31 South. The Morgan County District Attorney’s Office said that both Harwell and Smith were found inside the building.
Smith had been shot in the head, the DA’s office said. He was taken to Decatur Morgan Hospital, where he later died.
The DA’s office said that Harwell claimed he was forced to kill him when Smith “charged at Harwell with a tire iron.” Prosecutors showed evidence that Harwell had manipulated the scene after the shooting.
During the course of the investigation, DPD officers found a trafficking amount of methamphetamine in Harwell’s living quarters.
The DA’s office said that the jury deliberated for less than three hours before the guilty verdict.
His sentencing is currently scheduled for Dec. 12, 2025. Harwell is facing the maximum sentence of life in prison for both offences.
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