Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Staff Reports – Apr 16, 2013 Updated Oct 26, 2016

Dispute over girl led to fatal Abbeville stabbing

ABBEVILLE — Authorities say a dispute involving a girl led to the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old male over the weekend in Abbeville.

Henry County Sheriff William Maddox cited a dispute over a girl as part of the motive in the murder of Emmett Tyric Leqwaun Brown. Maddox also said some type of gang affiliation was likely involved, though he didn’t expand on how.

Investigators with the Henry County Sheriff’s and Abbeville Police Task Force arrested three teens on murder charges for their alleged involvement in the killing. All three suspects were released from custody after each posted $150,000 bail.

Investigators charged 17-year-old Gregory Spann, 17-year-old Marquise Barwick and 18-year-old Montrez Brown with murder in the stabbing death of Tyric Brown. Court records show Abbeville police charged all three teens with using a knife to cut and stab Tyric Brown to death on Saturday.

Henry County Judge Derek Peterson set the bail in all three cases, and specifically forbid Spann from going within 1,000 feet of the victim’s home or family.

Peterson learned during Spann’s first appearance that Spann lived across the street from the victim. Spann’s father, who attended the hearing, told the court he’d find somewhere else for his son to stay while awaiting trial on the murder charge. Spann’s father also told the court he plans to hire an attorney to represent his son at trial.

A woman could be heard crying as Peterson held Spann’s first appearance inside a packed courtroom Tuesday afternoon at the Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville.

Maddox said the stabbing death came as a result of an altercation at a block party near the intersection of Crawford and Phillips streets on Saturday night.

According to court records, authorities believe this is what happened

A fight originally started at a building in the 200 block of Phillips Street between Tyric Brown and Spann. Brown then left that area and went to the area of the intersection of Crawford and Phillips streets to “calm down” and “get away from the situation.”

Spann, along with a large crowd, followed Brown to the intersection where he “reengaged” the altercation.

It was at this point where Montrez Brown and Barwick allegedly got involved in the fight. Records show Montrez Brown allegedly held Tyric Brown down and began hitting him with a belt, while both Barwick and Spann allegedly struck the victim with closed fists. Spann then pulled out a knife and, while Montrez Brown continued to allegedly hold down the victim, he began cutting and striking the victim with the knife. As Tyric Brown fell to the ground, the suspects, along with the large crowd gathered around the fight, ran from the area.

Henry County Coroner Derek Wright said he pronounced 17-year-old Tyric Brown dead at Southeast Alabama Medical Center. He said Brown was taken to the state Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy on Monday.

“There were multiple cuts and stab wounds on him, mainly his arms and torso,” Wright said.

Wright said Tyric Brown apparently lived at a home on Crawford Street.

Maddox said the violence at the block party also resulted in three other people getting injured, one of whom he said included Spann. He said Spann underwent surgery to mend an arm injury while at Flowers Hospital. He said Spann was arrested Monday evening after he was released from the hospital.

Maddox also said two other people were stabbed during the altercation, including a 13-year-old girl and one of the other suspects. Maddox also said all four parties involved in the altercation are related to each other.

How the other three stabbing victims suffered their injuries remains under investigation, Maddox said.

“Once we find out more about what happened, there could be some more arrests,” Maddox said.

Maddox said the stabbings likely occurred late Saturday night about 10 blocks outside downtown Abbeville.

In the wake of the fatal stabbing, Maddox said Abbeville High School was placed on lockdown on Tuesday morning for a couple of hours for safety reasons.

Maddox said 911 dispatch received calls that kids reportedly were bringing weapons, to possibly include guns and/or knives, to school for some type of retaliation. He said the reports were made around 7 a.m. and authorities promptly started searching the school by 7:30 a.m.

Maddox said officers from the Abbeville Police Department and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office worked together in searching the school.

“We had a soft lockdown and searched all the kids’ backpacks and purses just to make sure there wasn’t any guns and knives in the school,” Maddox said. “It was everything we had because it was 700 some students. We got through it in two and half hours. We did it just for safety reasons.”

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

WSFA.com
Staff Reports – April 16, 2013 at 2:03 AM CDT – Updated July 11 at 2:46 PM

3 charged in stabbing death of teen in Abbeville

ABBEVILLE, AL (WSFA) – The Henry County Sheriff’s Department says a total of three people are now charged in the death of a teenager on Saturday, April 13.

Abbeville residents Marquise Barwick, 17, Gregory Spann, 17, and Montrez Brown, 18, are each charged with murder in the stabbing death of Tyric Brown, 17.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. that evening. Officers were called to a disturbance at a party taking place at 200 Phillips Street in Abbeville.

Initial estimates have a crowd of approximately 200 people, mostly underage/juveniles, in attendance and underage alcohol consumption was taking place at the party.

Police says as a result of an altercation at the intersection of Phillips Street and Crawford Street, two juveniles were hospitalized for their injuries and Brown later died of his injuries.

Barwick and Brown had their initial appearances in court Tuesday morning and their bonds were set at $150,000 each.

Spann is expected to have his first court appearance later in the day.

Copyright 2013 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.

Source: View WSFA.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson – Oct 6, 2016 Updated Feb 19, 2019

Montrez Brown acquitted in stabbing death of Abbeville teen

An Abbeville man became a free man Thursday, released from custody after a Henry County jury found him not guilty of a felony murder charge.

Attorney Arthur Medley said a jury found his client, 21-year-old Montrez Doran Brown, not guilty after around 5.5 hours of deliberation.

The trial started Monday at the Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville, and was held in front of Circuit Court Judge Larry Anderson.

Investigators with the Henry County Sheriff’s and Abbeville Police Investigative Unit arrested Brown on April 14, 2013, and charged him with felony murder. Police charged Brown with stabbing 17-year-old Tyric Brown in Abbeville. Court records show Abbeville police charged three teens for their roles in the stabbing death of Tyric Brown. Montrez Brown was 18 years old at the time of the killing.

Gregory Spann, 21, of Abbeville, was convicted of felony murder last year for his role. He later received a 40-year prison sentence. A similar murder charge remains pending against 21-year-old Marquise Barwick.

“This was a fight, it was a bloody gruesome fight,” Medley said of the killing.

Medley said one of the points he made to the jury included how DNA evidence presented at trial came back with matches to both the victim and the co-defendant, Spann, from blood found on the victim’s shoes. He also argued to the jury how DNA evidence from blood found on Spann’s shoes also came back matching Spann, the victim and an unknown third party. He also reminded jurors how Spann was injured during the fight, and hospitalized.

“The state’s version was Montrez had a belt around Tyric’s neck so Gregory could stab him,” Medley said.

Medley said that’s why the shoes in evidence became so relevant because it showed who was at the scene of the fight and who wasn’t. He also said the autopsy indicated no neck injuries to the victim.

“If there’s no injury to the neck then obviously Montrez didn’t have him around the neck, and it shows their eyewitness was lying,” Medley said.

Medley said the defense did not contest Montrez Brown was on the same street on the night of the killing, but just was not part of the fight that killed Tyric Brown. He said DNA collected from physical evidence at the case excluded his client from even being at the scene of the fight.

“Myself, and on behalf of Montrez and his family, would like express our deepest sympathy to the family of Tyric. It’s horrible for any parent to have to bury their own child,” Medley said. “Our position is and the evidence supported it, that Montrez didn’t do this. But it’s still a horrible situation.”

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson – Aug 20, 2015 Updated Sep 4, 2015

Gregory Spann, accused of murder, testifies on his own behalf

1:45 p.m. Gregory Spann denied cutting or stabbing anyone as he testified on his own behalf Thursday in the murder case filed against him.

Spann, 20, testified for nearly an hour before the jury broke for lunch Thursday at the Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville.

Cross examination from prosecutors began early Thursday afternoon.

Spann was one of three people charged by Henry County Sheriff’s and Abbeville police in the stabbing death murder of 17-year-old Tyric Brown in April 2013.

Spann testified how he and two of the co-defendants, Marquise Barwick and Montrez Brown, rode together in a truck to a local Abbeville hangout spot called the Game Room.

“I knew there was a get together, but I didn’t know there was going to be a party,” Spann said as his attorney, Tom Brantley, questioned him about the block party on the night of the murder.

Spann also said he saw the victim, Tyric Brown, at the Game Room, who immediately made eye contact with him and “shot him the bird,” or pointed his middle finger at him. He also saw Tyric Brown show him what he believed was a gang sign for ‘West Side.’

“I was scared,” Spann said, as he claimed no affiliation with a gang.

Spann said police questioned him about being a member of the Goon Squad gang. Spann said his only connection to anything Goon was that his dog was called Goon, which was why his license plate read Goon.

Spann recalled how Tyric Brown followed as he left the Game Room by himself. He said Brown threw a glass bottle at him, and cut him on the arm with a knife in the street. He remembered over 100 people gathered around them as he wrapped his shirt around the bleeding wound on his arm. An ambulance later took him to Flowers Hospital in Dothan where he had surgery to mend a damaged artery in his arm.

Spann admitted he regularly carried a pocket knife, but never took it out of his pocket on the night of the homicide.

“I was bleeding bad, and in pain,” Spann recalled. “I was hurting.”

9:45 a.m. — The prosecution completed its evidence Thursday morning in the felony murder case filed against 20-year-old Gregory Spann.

Attorney Tom Brantley said the defense was expected to start putting on their witnesses during the week-long murder trial held in front of Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford at the Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville.

Lawyers were likely to make their closing arguments Thursday afternoon. Assistant Henry County District Attorney Sam Clenney has served as the lead prosecutor.

Spann, who was 17 at the time he was charged with murder, was one of three people charged by investigators with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators also charged Marquise Barwick and Montrez Brown with murder in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Tyric Brown on April 13, 2013.

Montrez Brown, 20, of Abbeville, recently had his bail revoked after being arrested on two felony charges in Dothan while released on bail. Brown’s trial for his pending murder charge is scheduled for October.

The murder charge against 20-year-old Barwick remains pending and has been scheduled for trial in November. Barwick was 17 at the time he was charged with murder, and Montrez Brown was 18.

Henry County Sheriff William Maddox said the stabbing death came as a result of an altercation at a block party near the intersection of Crawford and Phillips streets. He said all four parties involved in the altercation are related to each other.

According to court records, authorities believe this is what happened:

A fight originally started at a building in the 200 block of Phillips Street between Tyric Brown and Spann. Brown then left that area and went to the area of the intersection of Crawford and Phillips streets to “calm down” and “get away from the situation.”

Spann, along with a large crowd, followed Brown to the intersection where he “reengaged” the altercation.

It was at this point where Montrez Brown and Barwick allegedly got involved in the fight. Records show Montrez Brown allegedly held Tyric Brown down and began hitting him with a belt, while both Barwick and Spann allegedly struck the victim with closed fists. Spann then pulled out a knife and, while Montrez Brown continued to allegedly hold down the victim, he began cutting and striking the victim with the knife. As Tyric Brown fell to the ground, the suspects, along with the large crowd gathered around the fight, ran from the area.

Henry County Coroner Derek Wright pronounced Tyric Brown dead at Southeast Alabama Medical Center. He suffered multiple cuts and stab wounds, mainly to his arms and torso area.

Maddox said the violence at the block party also resulted in three other people getting injured, one of whom he said included Spann. He said Spann underwent surgery to mend an arm injury while at Flowers Hospital.

Maddox also said two other people were stabbed during the altercation, including a 13-year-old girl and one of the other suspects.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

WTVY.com
Ken Curtis – Oct. 6, 2016 at 7:40 PM CDT

Henry County man found not guilty of murder

A Henry County jury, after almost six hours of deliberations, found an Abbeville man not guilty Thursday of murder in the death of a teenager fatally stabbed in 2013.

Montrez Brown was one of three people arrested after Tyric Brown, 17, was killed during what investigators term an Abbeville block party with 200 or more people got out of control. Montrez Brown was 18 at the time.

Gregory Spann was convicted last year in Brown’s death and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors say he is the man that committed the actual stabbing.

However, Assistant District Attorney Sam Clenney told jurors that Montrez Brown held a belt around Tyric Brown’s neck while Spann committed the crime.

Defense attorney Arthur Medley differed, telling the 12-member panel that, while DNA implicated Spann, it did not link his client to the crime.

“Gregory Spann is not the same person as Montrez Brown and we think the right thing (the acquittal) was done,” Medley said.

However, Tyric Brown’s mother disagrees. “You wait on the verdict and you wait on the justice system to do their job and it did not prevail,” Elaine Birkshire said.

Tyric Brown would have turned 21 years old Thursday. Blackshire said a celebration of her son’s life was planned for later in the day.

“We know it’s hard on all those involved and we send our deepest sympathy to Tyric’s family,” Medley said.

While it was earlier reported the Browns are cousins, Blackshire said there was no relation.

The third person arrested, Marquise Barwick, is scheduled for trial later this month

Source: View WTVY.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson – Oct 20, 2015 Updated Feb 19, 2019

Abbeville homicide victim remembered at memorial service

A memorial service was recently held on the birthday of an Abbeville man who was stabbed to death during an altercation in an Abbeville street in April 2013.

Elaine Blackshire, the mother of Emmett Tyric Brown, said her son would’ve celebrated his 20th birthday on Tuesday Oct. 6. She said family and friends gathered on his birthday during a memorial birthday celebration held at the Abbeville Memorial Church of God gravesite. Friends and relatives held a balloon release and candle lighting ceremony.

Brown was born Oct. 6, 1995, and murdered on April 13, 2013.

Henry County Sheriff’s investigators arrested three people and charged them with murder in the Brown stabbing. Only one suspect, 20-year-old Gregory Spann, has been trial. Spann was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Similar felony murder charges remain pending against Marquise Barwick and Montrez Brown.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

WTVY.com
Press Release: AL Attorney General Luther Strange

Court of Criminal Appeals upholds Henry County murder conviction

Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday upheld the murder conviction of Gregory Rayshon Spann. Spann, 20, of Abbeville, was convicted in August of 2015 for the murder of Tyric Brown.

Evidence was presented at trial that on the evening of April 13, 2013, a block party was held at a club called the “Game Room” in Abbeville. While standing outside the club, Spann and Brown got into an argument. After the men were separated, Brown walked in the opposite direction. Spann along with others, ran toward Brown and surrounded him. A physical altercation took place during which Spann stabbed Brown. An autopsy determined that Brown died as a result of having received multiple stab wounds.

The case was prosecuted at trial by Henry County District Attorney Doug Valeska’s office. Spann was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment for his murder conviction. He subsequently sought to have his conviction reversed on appeal.

The Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section handled the case during the appeals process, arguing for the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals to affirm the conviction. The Court did so in a decision issued on Friday, October 21.

Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Jean Webb of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section for her successful work in this case.

Source: View WTVY.com Article