District attorney recuses himself from capital murder case in east Alabama after citing conflict of interest

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (WRBL) – A man is in jail facing a capital murder charge after a deadly home invasion in Alexander City on Saturday. Investigators say 22-year-old Steven Abercrombie broke into a home in the 4000 block of Washington Street on the morning of July 19. When officers arrived, they found 32-year-old Toyias Gopher shot to death inside the home.

The Alexander City Police Department asked the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to take over the investigation. Special Agents with ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene around 11:15 a.m.

Abercrombie was arrested and charged with Capital Murder during a Robbery. He is also charged with burglary and theft of property. He is being held in the Tallapoosa County Jail with no bond.

DA Mike Segrest with The Fifth Judicial Circuit District Atorney’s Office, which prosecutes cases in Tallapoosa County, released a statement saying his office stepped away from the case because one of its employees has a conflict of interest.

“At 10:05am Saturday, July 19th District Attorney Mike Segrest was notified of a murder investigation involving the above named defendant. At 10:12am District Attorney Mike Segrest contacted the Attorney General’s office asking the AG to take over the investigation and  prosecution of the case because of an internal conflict of interest of an employee in the District Attorney’s office. The District Attorney’s office has been fire-walled from this investigation from the very beginning and does not have any information related to the investigation,” said Segrest.

ALEA says the investigation is still ongoing. Once it is complete, the findings will be handed over to the Attorney General’s Office.