MONTGOMERY | RICKEY STOKES NEWS
Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has affirmed the murder conviction of Teddy Donnell Cozart, 22, of Andalusia.
Cozart was convicted of murder in the Covington County Circuit Court on December 17, 2024, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He later sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.
According to evidence presented at trial, on the night of October 19, 2022, an Andalusia police officer responded to a report of shots fired at a local apartment complex. Officers found the victim, Treyvous Cobbins, unresponsive inside a parked Dodge Charger. Cobbins was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators later determined that Cobbins had been involved in a separate murder case in nearby Conecuh County and was expected to serve as an essential witness in that case before he was killed.
The case was prosecuted by the office of Walt Merrell, which secured a guilty verdict. During the appeals process, the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Division argued for the conviction to be upheld.
On Friday, January 30, 2026, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued its decision affirming Cozart’s conviction.
Marshall commended Assistant Attorney General John J. Davis for his work on the case and thanked District Attorney Walt Merrell and his staff for their assistance in defending the conviction.
