PRATTVILLE – A Butler County man will serve eight consecutive life sentences for the kidnapping and rape of two Prattville teenagers in a crime that shocked this community.
Circuit Judge Joy Booth handed down the eight consecutive life sentences for Michael Jerome Butler of Greenville during an often emotional sentencing hearing Thursday morning. Butler, 37, entered guilty pleas in April to two counts of kidnapping, two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy and one count of robbery and sexual torture in the November 2022 case.
Booth’s courtroom was packed with large groups of family and friends to support the two victims. There was also a heavy law enforcement presence.
The victims, both 17-year-old high school students at the time and who described themselves as best friends, confronted Booth before sentencing. They had gone to Walgreens that evening to buy a birthday card for one of their teachers.
Butler kidnapped them at gunpoint from the parking lot. What followed was a horror story lasting several hours, spanning several provinces.
“My life changed forever that night, and I came all too close to never seeing my loved ones again,” one victim said in a powerful voice. “He told me he was going to kill me multiple times that night with a gun to my head. I knew I could be killed at any moment.
“So I prayed.”
During the victims’ statements, Butler stood about 10 feet away, dressed in bright yellow St. Clair County Jail garb, bound in handcuffs and leg irons. He hung his head, stared at the ground and appeared to show no emotion as both victims spoke.
“You told us that you wanted to be known as a notorious criminal, that you wanted films to be made about you,” she said. “You will only forever be known as the man who was outsmarted by two teenage girls.
More: A Greenville man pleads guilty to kidnapping and raping Prattville teenagers
‘This man will never have to go to prison again. I know you wanted to sniff the life out of me. You didn’t win.”
The second victim appeared to gather herself before speaking. As she spoke, her voice grew stronger.
“You rot in a cell until your bones become weak and your health deteriorates,” she said. “You didn’t take anything from me. I’m free, and you’re in chains.
“I am so incredibly strong. You have made me stronger. I’m not your victim. I was never your victim. You will receive what you deserve from the Lord and your fellow prisoners. I’m not afraid of you.”
Before sentencing, prosecutors told Booth that Butler had four prior theft convictions. Tray Richardson, who acted as Butler’s attorney, told Booth that the appropriate sentence was eight life sentences because Butler accepted that in the plea agreement.
Butler also spoke, saying he was struggling with drug use at the time and had not slept in a fortnight. His statement to Booth was sometimes inaudible.
“I was crazy…I’m not that type of person,” he said. “I’m not making excuses, I’m just telling the truth. I want you all to know that I am sorry.”
The courtroom was quiet for the proceedings. Muffled sobs came from some people in the gallery. In handing down the sentences, Booth ticked off each charge.
“Kidnapping in the first degree: life imprisonment. Kidnapping in the first degree: life imprisonment,” she said, listing each charge separately, followed by the sentence.
Butler also faces murder charges in St. Clair County, where he is accused of killing a woman while on the run for about 48 hours after the Prattville attacks, court records show. In addition, he faces home invasion and attempted murder charges in Atlanta for crimes he is accused of committing while on the run, local prosecutors said.
‘Everyone’s Nightmare’
Grisly details about the Prattville case emerged during a December 2022 hearing for Butler before Booth, who was then a district judge in Autauga.
On the night of Nov. 3, 2022, the teens were kidnapped at gunpoint from the parking lot of a local store and then driven through two counties where they were raped, also at gunpoint, and had their lives threatened several times, according to testimony.
Scott Baxley, the Prattville Police Department investigator in the case, was the only witness the prosecution called during the hearing. He told Booth that Butler was armed with a revolver when he kidnapped the teens and he forced the teens into a Nissan car registered to his mother. Butler first drove the teens from Prattville to Montgomery and then to Lowndes County, where the assaults occurred, Baxley said.
“This is every parent’s nightmare, everyone’s nightmare,” District Attorney CJ Robinson said at the time. “It was a random act, we cannot find any connection between Butler and the victims. These two girls are here by the grace of God and their own strength to get through this together.”
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on the Montgomery Advertiser: Man gets eight life sentences for kidnapping and raping Alabama teens
