Sentencing delayed again in manslaughter trial
RUSSELLVILLE — Brandy Dowdy will have to wait even longer to learn how long she will serve in prison after her sentencing was delayed for the second time.
Franklin County District Judge Brian Hamilton on Friday granted a motion from Dowdy’s attorney to continue her sentencing beyond its initial April 28 scheduling.
Dowdy, 42, was charged with two counts of manslaughter in the March 2022 deaths of Michelle Ann Sheeks and Jacquline 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.
Filed on April 7, Dowdy’s attorney, Shane Cook, filed a motion to continue the sentencing due to his need to review court documents and the transcript of the trial.
In turn, Franklin County District Attorney Jeff Barksdale objected to the motion in a filing due to multiple family members of the victims in the case having to fly in from places such as Washington state.
While he did not set a date for her rescheduling, Hamilton sided with Cook in allowing the sentencing to be delayed once again.
Cook was appointed as Dowdy’s additional attorney by Hamilton after her retained attorney, Jessica Bugge, did not appear in court at the original sentencing date on Jan. 7 due to what she described as a “medical emergency.”
During Friday’s hearing, Hamilton said the court clerk is continuing to transcribe the entirety of Dowdy’s trial — a task he said could result in more than 3,000 pages being produced and will take additional weeks to finish.
In addition to delaying the sentencing, Hamilton also brought up the issue of Bugge continuing as Dowdy’s defense attorney moving forward.
Hamilton said Bugge was notified of Friday’s hearing, but again did not show up to court.
Upon being appointed as Dowdy’s attorney, Cook said he obtained Bugge’s cell phone number and email address and attempted multiple times to reach out to her, to no avail.
The first time he heard from Bugge, he said, was around 12:30 p.m. on Friday — roughly 30 minutes before the hearing was slated to begin.
Hamilton said the court needed to figure out whether Bugge was going to continue to represent Dowdy, or if she would be dismissed in order to avoid any issues that could arise on an appeal.
Addressing the court, Dowdy said she has not “heard from” Bugge in five-and-a-half months.
Despite the gap in communication, Dowdy said she did not want to dismiss Bugge from her case without hearing from her first, but advocated for keeping Cook on as her additional attorney just in case.
“I don’t want to say I don’t want her anymore because I haven’t talked to her in so long,” Dowdy said. “I’m not happy, but I need to hear from her and I haven’t been able to talk to her or get her to contact my kids or anyone. So I don’t know what she’s doing.”
In response to Bugge missing yet another court appearance, Hamilton said he will schedule a status hearing on the matter in “the next few weeks” in which Bugge will be forced to attend or face disciplinary action.
Given the fluctuation in sentencing scheduling, Barksdale informally requested the court allow the victim’s family members to give victim impact statements via video call in the event they are unable to book new flights for the new date.
Hamilton indicated he would allow it, while Cook suggested he would have no objection to the motion when it’s filed.
