Dowdy sentencing delayed due to medical emergency

RUSSELLVILLE — The sentencing of Brandy Dowdy will have to wait until another day after her defense attorney suffered a “medical emergency” on Tuesday.

Originally slated to begin at 9 a.m., Dowdy’s sentencing was set to take place on the second floor of the Franklin County Courthouse. However, Birmingham-based defense attorney Jessica Bugge was not present by 9 a.m.

For the next seven and a half hours, members of the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office, District Judge Brian Hamilton and even Dowdy herself tried to communicate with Bugge.

Eventually, the parties learned Bugge had a “medical emergency,” according to Hamilton, which required her to seek treatment.

Hamilton said Bugge was “physically unable” to attend any type of hearing, either in person or via video call.

Ultimately, at 4:30 p.m., Hamilton granted a motion to continue the sentencing, but a date was not officially set.

Hamilton said the court waited so long to officially continue the sentencing due to the fact many family members of the victims traveled from out of state — some from as far as Seattle, Washington.

In the event those family members aren’t able to return for the new sentencing date, Hamilton said their victim impact statements can be read in the court by someone or made personally by using a video call.

Assistant District Attorney Fallyn Pharr said the court canceled Tuesday’s grand jury proceedings in preparation for Dowdy’s sentencing.

Pharr said the hope is to reschedule the sentencing for “as soon as relatively possible.”

Regarding the delay, Pharr said she feels the frustration for family members who are seeking closure.

Dowdy

“Some of them have traveled so far and I know they want to get this through and behind them,” Pharr said.

Dowdy, 42, was charged with two counts of manslaughter in the March 2022 deaths of Michelle Ann Sheeks and Jacqueline Summer Beard, an employee with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Both Sheeks and Beard were killed by a pack of dogs living on Dowdy’s property.

In November 2025, a Franklin County jury found Dowdy guilty of manslaughter in the death of Beard but opted for the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide in Sheeks’ death.

Dowdy was also convicted on two violations of Emily’s Law — a 2018 statute focused on holding owners of violent dogs accountable.

Following her conviction, Dowdy’s bond was revoked and she was taken into custody by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. She has remained in the Franklin County Jail.

Based on her convictions, Dowdy faces up to 41 years in prison.