Nathan Stephens gets 75 year sentence for not registering as sex offender
Jan. 29—A man who allegedly killed an acquaintance two days after being released from prison was sentenced to 75 years in prison by Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas on Thursday for his failure to register as a sex offender conviction from November.
Nathan Winston Stephens, of Arab, was arrested by state and federal officers in Cobb County, Georgia in October 2020 in connection with the stabbing death of Herndon Self Jr., 56.
"Although our office asked for the maximum punishment of either life or 99 years, we are pleased with Nathan Stephens being sentenced to 75 years in prison," said Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock in a statement. "Our office will now continue forward with the prosecution of Stephens for the murder Herndon Self and bring justice to the Self family."
Police say Self was stabbed to death inside a moving vehicle during a dispute with Stephens, an acquaintance. Self escaped from the vehicle and died later at a hospital.
Records from the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole showed members refused an early release for Stephens on Aug. 11 2020, but he was subsequently freed by the Department of Corrections on Sept. 10, two days before the killing.
Stephens, who was serving time for a burglary in Marshall County, was freed by the prison system under a state law that requires inmates to be released within a certain date of the end of their sentence, said board spokesman Terry Abbott in 2020.
Law enforcement and the victim's family questioned how he was released.
"I just don't understand how this happened," said Bobby Cannon, a nephew of Self in 2020. "I mean, they should have never crossed paths."
