A man who attempted to kill his wife in Madison County will spend the next 30 years in prison.
The three-decade sentence for Billy Bland, 46, comes after the defendant pled guilty to one count of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the Madison County Circuit Court.
On Nov. 15, 2024, officers with the Canton Police Department were dispatched to the home of Bland and his wife because the defendant had called his mother-in-law and stated that he had just killed her daughter. The victim’s mother called 911 requesting a welfare check at the home, but no one was at the residence when law enforcement responded, according to authorities.
Deputies with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department later responded to a different home located on Lake Naeoma in a rural area of the region. The homeowner had called the sheriff’s department because an SUV had driven into the lake and a woman could be heard calling for help from the automobile. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a female who had been shot multiple times. The victim indicated that her husband, Billy Bland, had shot her multiple times and then fled the scene.
Officers were unable to locate Bland in the woods adjoining the property owner’s home. They began a ping of his cell phone location, which showed him exiting the area and ending up in an abandoned house on West Capitol Street in Jackson. Law enforcement were able to determine that Bland’s brother had picked him up and taken him to Jackson.
With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals, officers located Bland in the Jackson home, where he was still in possession of the handgun he used to shoot his wife. Bland had been previously convicted of felony DUI and the sale of cocaine. He elected to plead guilty the day before his trial was scheduled to begin. The guilty plea was without a recommendation by the state. A sentencing hearing was conducted on Nov. 3, 2025, and Judge Dewey Arthur sentenced Bland to the maximum for each charge.
“I would like to first thank the homeowner on Lake Naeoma who immediately called the police for our victim. If not for her seeing the car go into the lake and calling for help so quickly, I have no doubt this victim would have died. This case is also a great example of law enforcement cooperation making a difference,” Madison County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett said.
“The Canton Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Department, and the US Marshall’s Task Force were all instrumental in the discovery and apprehension of the defendant,” he continued. “Unfortunately, this is yet another example of domestic violence almost taking a life in this State.”
Bramlett further encouraged victims of domestic abuse to contact the Center for Violence Prevention Crisis Line at (601) 932-4198.