GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Gaston County prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty for the first time in 15 years in a case involving the death of a young woman with autism.
The district attorney requested six months on Monday to decide whether to pursue capital punishment against Marlo Wallace, a group home operator charged in the case.
Aaliyah Fortner, 23, died at a group home on Greenbrook Trail last year. Wallace is charged in connection with the death of Fortner, who was nonverbal and lived with autism.
While the prosecution in Gaston County typically does not weigh the death penalty in similar cases, legal filings indicate this case is being treated differently.
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Warrants in the case state that Fortner was beaten with a broom and shocked with a taser while living at the home. Prosecutors said some of the alleged abuse was captured on video, though an attempt was made to delete the footage. Fortner died of malnutrition at the facility near Dallas.
Glenda Watkins, Fortner’s former guardian, said the 23-year-old had the mind of a child and was considered a member of her family. Watkins said she does not believe a six-month period is necessary to decide the fate of the defendant.
“I just feel like that Aaliyah is getting her justice,” Watkins said. “If this is the way she needs to get it, I’m all for it.”
Defense attorney Brent Ratchford worked on the last capital trial in Gaston County 15 years ago.
Ratchford, who is not representing Wallace, said the circumstances of Fortner’s death appear from the outside to be a classic death penalty case. “Kind of streams out for retribution by the state,” Ratchford said.
The last capital trial in the county involved Danny Hembree, who confessed to three murders. Hembree was sentenced to death row, but the case was later overturned.
Ratchford said that following that outcome, the Gaston County District Attorney’s Office had decided not to pursue capital cases. “Even that case was overturned by the court of appeals,” Ratchford said.
Ratchford also noted that death penalty cases involve significantly higher prosecution costs and years of automatic appeals.
He said that a shift in public sentiment away from capital punishment has increased the pressure on prosecutors to ensure every detail of a case is handled correctly.
The district attorney has six months to finalize the decision on whether to seek the death penalty against Wallace.
The possible use of capital punishment follows the passage of Iryna’s Law last year, which restarted the death penalty in North Carolina after legal challenges had paused the practice since 2006.