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Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson Feb 4, 2011

Suspect's death ends Cottonwood murder case

A murder charge was recently dropped after the Cottonwood murder suspect died.

Attorney Eric Davis said his client, Frank Bass Jr., had his murder case dropped after he died last year. Davis said his client died sometime in the spring of 2010. According to court records Bass would have been 74.

According to a Dothan Eagle report, Houston County Sheriff’s investigators charged Bass on April 2, 2003, with the murder of his wife, Margaret Bass. Mrs. Bass, 59, suffered a single fatal gunshot wound to the head with a small-caliber gun at the couple’s Pybus Road home in Cottonwood.

Davis said at an earlier hearing his client’s health had deteriorated after he suffered a stroke several years ago while in jail. He also said his client had been living in a nursing home in Barbour County.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Jim Cook - Apr 23, 2015 Updated Sep 14, 2015

No Castle Law defense in Gordon stabbing

Gordon on Wednesday, according to Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza.

Paul Bernard Peterson, 29, of Gordon has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of Norman Battle, 28, also of Gordon. Peterson’s bond was set at $100,000. Peterson has made bail and secured his release from jail pending his trial.

Valenza said the stabbing occurred as a result of an argument between Peterson and Battle at 63 St. Mary St. in Gordon on Wednesday afternoon. During the argument, Peterson obtained a knife and stabbed Battle multiple times, Valenza said.

Initial calls to police concerning the incident were made around 2:58 p.m.

After the stabbing, Battle fled and was picked up by a passerby, who attempted to take the injured man to a hospital. Battle didn’t make it, and the driver was met by police at an Ashford gas station where Battle was pronounced dead around 4 p.m.

Valenza said Alabama’s Castle Law would not apply to the incident because it occurred outside Peterson’s home. The Castle Law, passed in 2007, allows homeowners to defend themselves from burglary or assault within their homes with deadly force.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

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DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson - Sep 14, 2015

Alabama Castle law may have gotten Gordon man out of murder indictment

Gordon man no longer faces a felony murder charge after a Houston County grand jury recently no-billed the case.

Attorney Cada Carter said his client, 29-year-old Paul Bernard Peterson, was eating watermelon on his front porch when he had to use a knife to defend himself from another man who attacked him as he ate the melon.

“My guy was sitting there eating watermelon,” Carter said. “The guy went up on his porch and attacked my client first.”

Carter said he believed the grand jury returned no murder charge because of the Alabama Castle law, which allows for people to defend themselves on their own property with deadly force.

Deputies with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office arrested Peterson on April 22 and charged him with felony murder. Deputies charged him in the stabbing death of 28-year-old Norman Battle.

Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza told the Dothan Eagle shortly after the arrest how the stabbing occurred as a result of an argument between Peterson and Battle at 63 St. Mary St. in Gordon.

After the stabbing, Battle fled and was picked up by a passerby, who attempted to take the injured man to a hospital. Battle didn’t make it, and the driver was met by police at an Ashford gas station where Battle was later pronounced dead.

The Alabama Castle Law, passed in 2007, allows homeowners to defend themselves from burglary or assault within their homes with deadly force.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Police identify 14-year-old suspect in Dothan double murder

by: Richard Everett
Posted: Nov 21, 2022 / 02:59 PM CST
Updated: Nov 21, 2022 / 02:59 PM CST

DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — During an investigation into the double murder of two Dothan women, police have identified a teenage suspect, per Dothan Police Department.

According to a press release, the suspect has been identified as 14-year-old Vincent Lamar Oliver Jr., of Dothan. Authorities say Oliver is wanted for two counts of capital murder.

Daughter of Hartselle ‘murder-for-hire’ suspect plead for her release

The teen has been accused in the murders of 21-year-old Jasmine Danielle Bean, and 20-year-old Ja’Lexius Lashon Wells.

Bean and Wells were both shot to death in a Dothan home Sunday night, where police believe there was a gathering at the home.

Police add that Oliver has active juvenile pickup orders of attempted assault first-degree and one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, both of which occurred in July 2022.

According to a court order, no additional information on Oliver can be released at this time.

Criminal Details

ago.alabama.gov
July 19, 2017

On Saturday, July 31, 1999, JB Hilton Green Beasley, white female and Tracie Hawlett, white female, both 17 years of age, were reported missing to the Dothan Police Department by family members. The girls were reportedly headed to a party and were last seen in Ozark, Alabama. At about 9:00 A.M. on Sunday, August 1, 1999, the vehicle they were traveling in, a black Mazda, was located on Herring Avenue in Ozark by the Ozark Police Department. It was later determined that both girls were deceased in the trunk of that vehicle; both were victims of apparent homicide.

Anyone with information on these murders is urged to contact the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Cold Case Unit Toll Free Tip Line at (866) 419-1236 or email [email protected]. You could be eligible for a reward.

WebSleuths.com
DimeDective - March 5, 2013

I've been researching this case for the past couple of months. I've organized all the facts uncovered thus far into a sort of case file, which follows in its entirety. It is my hope that this will provide a foundation on which we can build, ignite a new conversation and bring some much-needed attention to this ice-cold case. —DD

1. ON THE WAY TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on the night of Saturday, July 31, 1999, Northview High School incoming seniors J.B. Hilton Green Beasley, 17, and Tracie Jean Hawlett, 17, left their hometown of Dothan, Alabama, together in Beasley’s 1993 black Mazda 929. It was Beasley’s 17th birthday, and the friends were headed to a “field” party for her at the rural home of Beasley’s friend and fellow dancer Janna Hare in Headland, about 10 miles north of Dothan.

Earlier that evening Tracie Hawlett had finished her shift in the menswear department at J.C. Penney, left work shortly after 9:00 p.m., and went home to change clothes before Beasley, of 205 Woodleigh Road in Dothan, arrived to pick her up sometime between 9:45 and just past 10:00 at her house in the Hickory Hill Drive/Rock Spring Road neighborhood in Dothan.

The girls never arrived at the party. Carol Roberts, Tracie Hawlett’s mother, said, “They never found the party. They just couldn’t understand the directions.”

2. LOST

Beasley and Hawlett were spotted in Headland at about 10:30 p.m. Police records show that they stopped at a BP gas station near the intersection of Routes 173 and 431 in Headland, where they used one of two side-by-side pay phones to call friends, probably to get clearer directions to the party or possibly to tell friends they wouldn’t be able to make it: Hawlett’s curfew that night was 11:30 p.m., giving the girls a relatively short night out given their departure time, made all the shorter by their becoming lost.

One hour later, just after 11:30 p.m., Beasley and Hawlett turned up in Ozark -- more than 20 miles northwest of Dothan -- at the Big/Little convenience store-Chevron station located at 763 East Broad Street. The store had closed for the evening. Beasley and Hawlett encountered a woman, Marilyn Merritt, and her daughter, who had stopped to buy a soda; the girls asked for and were provided directions to U.S. Highway 231, which would take them the 20 miles southeast to Dothan. Merritt and her daughter later told police that Beasley’s car was spotless, the girls were clean and nothing seemed awry. 

Using the pay phone at the far right end of the store front, Tracie Hawlett then called her mother to say they had gotten lost and wound up in Ozark but had gotten directions and were on their way home. Carol Roberts stated, “Nothing was wrong in Tracie’s voice. It was ‘Mom, I love you. Be home soon.’”

Merritt and her daughter then saw Beasley and Hawlett pull out of the parking lot and turn right toward the highway, as directed. It was the last time Beasley and Hawlett were seen alive.

3. THE NEXT MORNING

Exhausted from a double shift as a nurse's aide at Wesley Manor nursing home, Carol Roberts fell asleep after the call from her daughter. When she awoke at 5:00 a.m., Tracie had not returned. Of Tracie’s failure to return that night, Roberts stated, “Tracie’s never late. I knew that something beyond her control was keeping her from getting home.”

At 8:00 that morning, August 1, 1999, Roberts called Dothan police. Officers started to search for a possible car wreck.

At almost that exact moment, Ozark police officers found Beasley's black Mazda 929 just before 8:00 a.m., parked along Herring Avenue, about 30 yards from the James Street intersection, less than a mile from the pay phone Hawlett had used the night before. Though a residential street, the stretch of Herring Avenue where the car was found is houseless, flanked by dense woods on both sides. It is dark in the daytime and near pitch-black at night.

4. THE CAR

According to police, when the car was initially found, there were no outright signs of foul play. Police say why the girls stopped remains a mystery. They say it doesn't look like someone forced the girls off the road, since there was no damage to the car.

Though undamaged, the car was muddy and almost out of gas despite a fill-up the day before. When police found the car, the driver's side window was rolled down a few inches and the door was unlocked. J.B. Beasley’s driver's license was on the dashboard. The girls' purses were inside the car. It appeared only the car keys were missing.

5. "SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FEELS FUNNY."

Lieutenant Rex Tipton, the chief of detectives with the Ozark Police Department, was contacted by a sergeant at the Herring Avenue scene and told about the discovery.

“I don't know why I'm bothering you," the sergeant said, "but something about this feels funny.”

Tipton told the sergeant to keep an eye on the car, figuring that teenagers may have left it there after a night of partying, which would not have been unusual. The sergeant ran the car's license plates and discovered that it was registered in Dothan, the region's largest city with just under 60,000 people. He contacted police there.

The Dothan police told Tipton they were just then taking a missing person's report from Tracie's parents.

Tipton reiterated his order to keep an eye on the car.

“At that point," Tipton said, "I didn't think about popping the trunk. There was nothing to indicate anything was wrong.”

6. INSIDE THE TRUNK

Hours passed with no sign of the girls. By lunchtime, Tipton had become worried. Dothan police sent an investigator, who planned to have the car towed back to Dothan. As officers waited for a tow truck, the Dothan investigator noticed that he could open J.B.'s trunk with an inside lever; the missing keys weren't needed.

Six hours had passed since the discovery of the car. It was nearing 2:00 p.m. when he popped the trunk:

J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett were inside, each dead from a single 9mm gunshot wound to the head. 

7. CRIME SCENE DETAILS

They were clothed and showed few signs of struggle. Hawlett's arm was scratched, her pants had briars, and the $95 New Balance tennis shoes she had bought the week before were covered in mud. First into the trunk, she had been shot once in the temple.

Beasley had been shot once in the cheek. She was noticeably dirty; her shoes were muddy. 

Both girls’ pants were wet below the knee.

A single 9mm shell casing rested precariously on Hawlett’s leg.

Robbery was quickly ruled out as a motive when it was confirmed that not only the girls’ purses but also their jewelry, money, and credit cards were all found inside the car.

The only known missing item is Beasley’s key chain, which holds the car’s keys. It is described as having white blocks with black letters that have a heart on one and spell out “HARD2GET.”

An autopsy revealed that the girls had not been raped and had no alcohol or drugs in their bodies.

Authorities were able to determine that the girls had not been murdered where the car was parked on Herring Avenue.

A palm print was recovered from the trunk lid.

More than two months after the crime, a stunning revelation came from state forensics examiners: They found semen on J.B. Beasley’s bra, panties, and skin. Authorities consider this discovery the key to the unsolved murders.

"You have to assume it's a sex offense, or at least came out of a sex offense," said David Emery, the district attorney of Dale and Geneva counties. "If we could find who donated that semen, I think we'll have the killer.”

8. THE STRANGE CONFESSION OF JOHNNY WILLIAM BARRENTINE

At 11:30 p.m. on the night of July 31, 1999, at the same time Tracie Hawlett called her mother from the Big/Little Store pay phone, 28-year-old part-time mechanic Johnny William Barrentine told his young wife that he was headed out to buy milk for the couple’s 2-year-old son.

Barrentine didn’t return home until shortly before 1:00 a.m., and, according to his wife, when he came in he was visibly upset. When asked, he told her his car had been “hit by a black truck with a Dothan tag near Herring Avenue.”

In the days that followed, Barrentine would confide in others that he knew something about the murders of the two teens found on Herring Avenue . “He just said he thought he might know who did it,” said Avalyn Murphy, whose boyfriend, Leon Jordan, encouraged Barrentine to go to authorities and collect the reward.

Barrentine finally took the advice.

On September 1, exactly one month after the bodies of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett were found, Johnny Barrentine met with police for a four-hour, videotaped interview, ultimately offering six different stories and sometimes placing himself at the scene of the crime.

According to Ozark Police Chief Tony R. Spivey, Barrentine first said that on the night of the killings he'd seen a black truck speeding away from the area where the girls were found. 

As the interview wore on, Barrentine changed his story several times, finally telling investigators that he'd picked up a “tattooed man” he didn't know, and the two drove by the Big/Little Store. Barrentine said the man he'd given a ride got into a car with two girls -- who Barrentine identified as “the dead girls” -- and told him to follow. He said they ended up on Herring Avenue. The man got the girls out of the car. Barrentine said he soon heard two gunshots and the man returned. Barrentine gave the man a ride away from the scene, then went home.

In another version, Barrentine confessed to investigators that the man he’d picked up and given a ride home wasn’t unknown to him at all -- it was his neighbor. Alarmingly, Barrentine lived just eight-tenths of a mile from where police found the bodies.

Police arrested Barrentine then and there, naming him the prime suspect and charging him with two counts of capital murder.

But there were problems with his account. He never mentioned sexual activity that would account for the semen found on Beasley. The neighbor he implicated had an alibi for the evening and, like Barrentine, did not match the DNA samples.

Barrentine, whose police mug shot makes him look like he might have just been startled from a slumber, immediately said he'd fabricated the whole story in hopes of scoring some quick cash. 

“I didn't see anything,” he later told a grand jury. “I made up everything to get the reward money.”

“He says he was there,” Police Chief Spivey said, explaining what made Barrentine a suspect. “He relayed to us about getting the girls out of the car. One of the girls ran. The girls were combative. The individual placed the girls in the trunk. Two shots were fired. The gunman comes back to the car. Something is in his hand. He drove the gunman outside the city. He returned home.”

In a September 21 preliminary hearing, Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent Charles Huggins testified that Barrentine was able to describe the girls’ clothing and other items consistent with the girls and the crime.

Police Chief Spivey said the district attorney, who was present during the September 1 interview, instructed police to arrest Barrentine. When Barrentine’s arrest was announced at a September press conference, Spivey said police were confident they had arrested the right man.

"What do you do?" Spivey would say later. “If you don't charge him, maybe you just let a killer walk out the door. You're between a rock and a hard place.”

Barrentine was held without bond in the Dale County jail from his September 1 arrest on. In an October 18 bond hearing before Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin, Barrentine denied he was involved in the killings, though he had made the earlier statements to police that he watched the two 17-year-olds shot to death by an acquaintance of his who had “tattoos all over his arms.”

Barrentine told McLauchlin that he never picked up a tattooed man and that he didn't see anything the night of the murders. He said he simply went to the BP at about 11:00 p.m. to get milk for his little boy.

Barrentine was denied bond by McLauchlin, who then appointed 36-year veteran lawyer Bill Kominos to represent Barrentine.

Barrentine's friends and family stood by him, professing his innocence to anyone who would listen. “He did not do it,” his mother, Faye Barrentine, adamantly told reporters the day after her son's arrest. "He's not capable of doing it. He has a two-year-old son, and he is not capable of doing anything to hurt a child.”

Kominos would go on to say his client had obviously stumbled into a situation with investigators he wasn't capable of handling. “As a lawyer, you need to take what your client says with a grain of salt sometimes,” he said, speaking in slow, measured tones, his hands held together almost as if he were praying. “But I had a feeling from the very beginning, in viewing the car, in viewing the evidence, I said to myself, ‘No. Johnny Barrentine could not have done this.’”

The police were under intense pressure to make an arrest, Kominos contended. And that pile of reward money kept growing. It grew enough to lure Barrentine in, Kominos said.

“Well, they started. They questioned. And questioned. And questioned. Four hours,” the lawyer said, punctuating each sentence with a moment of silence. “It's all on video and the questions turn from questions to accusations. From accusations to suggestions.”

Barrentine, who had lived in Ozark for several years and was residing at 110 Young Avenue with his wife and son, said he first went to Spivey several days after the murders to tell him of a rumor. He gave Spivey a name and was told that police had already checked out the rumor and that the man Barrentine named was not a suspect.

Also several days after the murder, Barrentine reportedly said, he and his wife and brother-in-law went to the scene on Herring Street where the Beasley car was found. Barrentine said they were looking for something that might help the police solve the case.

Barrentine said he was tired when he told the story to police in the September 1 interview at the police station. He said he was interviewed for more than four hours and was not told he could go to the bathroom or could leave at any time.

Barrentine said police "tricked me" into telling the story.

At one hearing, it was reported that Barrentine finished the seventh grade and a portion of the eighth grade, and that he was in special education courses.

Daleville lawyer Joe Gallo said he didn’t believe police, who were under intense pressure to solve the case, would drop charges against Barrentine if they believed he was remotely involved. Yet Gallo offered no explanation for Barrentine's stories, except to say Barrentine suffered mild mental retardation. "You've got me," he said.

Barrentine's DNA was compared to that of the semen found on J.B. Beasley’s body.

It did not match. 

A judge then approved Barrentine's bond request. He was released from jail on Friday, December 17. In January, a Dale County grand jury declined to indict Barrentine.

“Barrentine is living in Daleville now,” Kominos said at the time, “and is trying to pick up the pieces.” Kominos said no physical evidence exists that links Barrentine to the murders.

Police still consider him a suspect, Spivey said, noting that Barrentine is also alleged to have made a jailhouse confession.

Police have said Barrentine could be charged later if new evidence points to him.

9. OTHER SUSPECTS

• The Man from Michigan: A man from Michigan who was at a party the night of the murders near where the car was found is also a "very viable" suspect, Chief Spivey said, even after tests failed to match the man's DNA to that found on J.B. Beasley’s clothing. The man, whom Spivey would not name, left town within days of the murders, the chief said, adding that investigators have traveled to Michigan three times to interview him. The man cannot account for three or four hours of his time on the night of the murders, and later made "suspicious" statements to people, Spivey said. He would not elaborate on what he meant by suspicious.

• The Driver of the Small White Pickup Truck: A video surveillance camera inside the Big/Little Store caught a grainy, poor quality image of what appears to be a small white pickup truck at the gas pumps at the same time that J.B. and Tracie were at the outside phone calling Tracie's mother. The store had closed, and there was no record of a gas purchase being made at the pump by credit card or debit card at that time, Chief Spivey said. The video never reveals anyone getting out of the truck, and never clearly shows the driver. After releasing a photo of the truck to the media a month into the investigation, no one had come forward to say it was him in the truck. The truck -- and its driver -- seem to have disappeared. “So that may be the key,” Spivey said.

• The Man from Mississippi (Presumably ruled out - DNA): In early March 2000, it was reported that a DNA sample taken from a Jones County, Mississippi, man was being compared to samples taken from the body of J.B. Beasley, but Chief Spivey said no factual evidence known at the time linked the man to the brutal murders of Beasley and Hawlett. Spivey said the man, who was extradited from Jones County, had been arrested there on an outstanding warrant for possessions of drug paraphernalia issued in Ozark. The man had been staying in Ozark with relatives but left two days after the murders. Spivey said investigators wanted to question him in connection with the case. “He has been extensively interviewed and DNA samples have been obtained and sent to the forensics lab," Spivey said at the time. "But at this time we do not have any factual information to connect him to this case. We just want to be double sure that he's not involved.”

10. ABOUT THE VICTIMS

J.B. Hilton Green Beasley was born Saturday, July 31, 1982 in Troy, Alabama, to Hilton Lanier Beasley and Cheryl Stout. In 1984, her family moved to Dothan.

J.B. was an All-American Cheerleader in the 8th grade at Carver Middle School. She was active in dance for ten years and was the recipient of numerous dance trophies and awards. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Dothan.

Despite its brutal ending, that final Saturday evening began on a festive note. It was J. B. Beasley's 17th birthday, and there was much to celebrate. She was an up-and-coming high school senior. Her future was promising, even if her past had not been trouble-free. Her relationship with her mother was admittedly strained, and her dance instructor had become her legal guardian. Even now, Cheryl Stout-Burgoon describes her daughter as rebellious and manipulative -- albeit very smart. But others considered her spirited, including her pastor, Lawson Bryan, who called her an “extremely vivacious, friendly, outgoing person.”

Tracie Jean Hawlett was born Wednesday, March 3, 1982. She was a second-year majorette at Northview High School, as well as a beauty contest finalist. [I've had a hard time finding facts on Ms. Hawlett. I'm hoping someone can help me here. —DD]

11. INVESTIGATION: DEVELOPMENTS

Police were stumped almost from the beginning. When state and county detectives joined the hunt, more than 50 investigators were working on the case in a city with just 45 officers on its force.

An FBI suspect profiler was brought in. But the profile revealed nothing dramatic, Chief Spivey said. The profiler said the killer most likely was a young male who could be described as a loner.

2008-2009: Ozark Police Chief Tony Spivey says they have investigated new leads over the past year and a majority of those leads have taken them out of Alabama. They’ve interviewed about a dozen people according to the Chief, some in Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Michigan, Arkansas and South Carolina. But he says they’ve come up empty-handed. Chief Spivey says it is personally frustrating that they have not found the killers but the department continues to work with the Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

12. AGENCIES INVOLVED IN THE INVESTIGATION

• Ozark Police Department

 

• Alabama Bureau of Investigation

 

• Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

• Alabama State Troopers

 

• Dale County Sheriff’s Department

 

• Daleville Department of Public Safety

 

• Wiregrass Violent Crime/Drug Task Force

 

• FBI Violent Crimes Task Force

 

• Dothan Police Department

 

• Houston County Sheriff’s Department

 

• Alabama Department of Game and Fish

 

• Dale County District Attorney’s Office

 

• Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences

 

• Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit

 

• Richard Walters, Cold Case Investigator

 

• Attorney General Troy King’s Cold Case Commission

13. TELEVISION COVERAGE

• Summer 2000: Spivey contacts America’s Most Wanted. The FOX network television show had helped Ozark police catch two suspects in a 1989 murder case.

• July 28, 2007: AMW airs a segment on the Beasley-Hawlett murders.

• August 15, 2007: CourtTV’s Haunting Evidence “Wiregrass Murders” (Beasley-Hawlett murders) episode airs.

14. A WITNESS

Since the day police discovered the bodies, they have said that J.B. and Tracie were shot while inside the Mazda's trunk. And, they've said, they believed the actual shooting happened somewhere other than where the car was found.

Yet, months into the investigation, police couldn't say where that somewhere else was.

Then, in March 2000, a woman who lived just south of town reported that she heard screams and what sounded like two gunshots on the night of the murders.

The woman didn't report the information sooner because she "didn't want to get involved," Chief Spivey said.

The area, next to what neighbors said is a now-vacant house, is surrounded by trees and has two World War II-era buildings on the property. The spider-web-encrusted buildings -- wooden structures that appear to be a barn and a half-collapsed garage -- sit about 100 feet off the roadway.

With FBI help, Spivey said, crime scene specialists and investigators combed the area and found a spent 9mm shell casing, the same caliber casing found in the trunk with the bodies.

Police sent the casing and a soil sample from the area to the state forensics lab, where they still sit. [July 2000]

Tipton said forensics experts will compare the dirt from that location with dirt found on J.B.'s and Tracie's clothing.

He said they will also examine the unique "extraction marks" left on the two casings by the gun that ejected them.

Because investigators are still awaiting those test results from the forensics lab, they don't know if the scene south of town is the actual murder scene.

Criminal Details

SoutheastSun.com
News Department - Feb 8, 2019 Updated Feb 8, 2019

One dead in possible self-defense incident

The Enterprise Police Department initiated a death investigation in the 100 Block of County Road 270 on Feb. 7 at 9:40 p.m., according to an EPD press release.

Responding officers discovered Rocky Beasley, 39, of Enterprise with a gunshot wound to the chest at the residence, and the suspect was still at the scene when officers arrived, according to the release.

According to the EPD, the preliminary investigation revealed that the incident may have been a case of self-defense so the suspect was released without charges after consultation with the Coffee County District Attorney’s Office.

This is still an active investigation and no additional information will be released, according to EPD.

The EPD’s Criminal Investigations Divisions is conducting the investigation and asks that anyone with additional information to contact the EPD at (334) 347-2222 or leave a tip at www.enterprisepd.com.

Source: View SoutheastSun.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Michele Forehand - Feb 8, 2019 Updated Feb 18, 2019

Enterprise Police investigate shooting, victim has been identified

Enterprise police are investigating the Feb. 7 shooting death of Rocky Beasley, 39, of Enterprise.

Officers arrived on the scene in the 100 block of County Road 270 at about 9:40 p.m. and discovered Beasley with a gunshot wound to the chest area. A suspect was still at the scene when law enforcement arrived, said Enterprise Police Lt. Billy Haglund.

Haglund said the preliminary investigation shows the shooting may be case of self-defense. The suspect has been released without charges.

According to Haglund the investigation is ongoing by the Enterprise Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, and no additional information is available at this time.

Beasley was arrested and charged with three felony counts of attempted murder in February 2012.

Court documents show in October 2012 a Coffee County jury convicted Beasley of a lesser charge of reckless endangerment.

Prosecutors said he allegedly fired a gun at several police, striking two of their vehicles.

Anyone with any information regarding the death of Beasley is asked to call the Enterprise Police Department at, 334-347-2222.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Staff Reports - Feb 8, 2019 Updated Jul 15, 2020

Possible self-defense incident leaves one dead

According to the Enterprise Police Department, a death investigation was initiated at the 100 Block of County Road 270 on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 9:40 p.m.

Responding officers discovered Rocky Beasley, 39, of Enterprise, with a gunshot wound to the chest at the residence. The suspect was still at the scene when police arrived.

The preliminary investigation, according to the EPD, revealed this may be a case of self-defense and the suspect was released without charges after consultation with the Coffee County District Attorney’s Office.

This is an active investigation and no additional information will be released.

The Enterprise Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division (CID) is conducting this investigation and asks that anyone with additional information to contact the Enterprise Police Department at (334) 347-2222, or leave a tip at www.enterprisepd.com.

Source: View DothanEagle.com Article

Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Matt Elofson - Oct 13, 2009

The last of three people charged in a murder at a Dothan nightclub pleaded guilty Tuesday to his involvement in the August 2006 slaying.

Albert Lee McLeod, 25, of Paige Court, Ozark, pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter for his role in the shooting death of Byron Belser, 21, at the Champagne Lounge.

District Attorney Doug Valeska said Circuit Court Judge Lawson Little sentenced McLeod to serve 20 years in prison for the manslaughter charge.

Valeska said McLeod was charged as the get-away driver in the shooting. Valeska said McLeod did not go inside the nightclub, but the murder weapon was found inside his car. Belser died from a single gunshot wound to his leg.

Dothan police investigators arrested McLeod on Aug. 19, 2006, and charged him with felony capital murder during a robbery.

A jury found the shooter, Kenneth McKinnis, guilty last October of capital murder for Belser’s death and a judge affirmed their recommendation to sentence him to death.

McLeod faces two to 20 years in prison for the class B felony of manslaughter.

A third person, Kyle McIntosh, 24, of Ozark, pleaded guilty last year to a felony manslaughter charge for his involvement in the shooting. Valeska said McIntosh was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison.

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WSFA.com
Staff Reports - December 25, 2017 at 1:01 PM CST - Updated August 14 at 8:41 AM

Man surrenders after Christmas Eve shooting in Troy kills 1, injures 4

TROY, AL (WSFA) - The Troy Police Department has arrested a man in connection to a Christmas Eve shooting that killed one and injured four others.

According to police, officers responded to the 100 block of Chapman Street at 10:25 a.m. Sunday in response to shots fired.

When they arrived, officers found a Brundidge man, 29, lying on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound. In the bedroom, they found a 49-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man, both of Troy, also suffering from non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

In the backyard of the neighboring residence, police found 56-year-old Eddie Key Blair of Troy, who had been shot in the leg. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 29-year-old victim was taken to Troy Regional Medical Center then to a Montgomery hospital for more treatment. The 49-year-old woman and 57-year-old man were treated and released from Troy Regional Medical Center.

Police said a fifth victim in the shooting, who sustained non-life threatening wounds, was taken to the hospital by a private vehicle. He was treated and released from Troy Regional Medical Center.

Investigators have declined to release the names of the victims who survived.

The shooting appears to have been a domestic situation between the female victim and the alleged shooter, 54-year-old Charles Louis Foster, police said, They both live at the home on Chapman Street.

Police said Foster surrendered himself and a handgun to officers at the police department.

He is being held at the Pike County Jail on one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder. His bond is set at $300,000.

Residents on Chapman Street declined to talk openly, although one lady said she was not surprised because of the traffic that comes in and out off Chapman Street.

Copyright 2017 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.

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Criminal Details

Montgomery Advertiser
By Kirsten Fiscus - December 5, 2019

Aniah Blanchard fought back and 'went for the gun,' according to court records

Aniah Blanchard "went for the gun" before she was shot, according to affidavits charging Ibraheem Yazee with two counts of capital murder, one in connection to the teen's kidnapping and another in connection to shooting her inside her car.

The court records were filed Wednesday.

According to an arrest affidavit, Yazeed was captured on video surveillance in the convenience store at the same time Blanchard was. A witness then observed Yazeed interacting with Blanchard near her vehicle in front of the convenience store, according to court records.

Another gas station's surveillance then captured Yazeed exiting the passenger side of Blanchard's vehicle and later re-entering the vehicle. Her car was last seen travelling south on South College Street towards the interstate, according to court records.

Ibraheem Yazeed seen with Aniah Blanchard's car after she went missing, records say

A person was located by police who said "Yazeed was seen at a residence in Montgomery wearing only shorts, with a gun tucked into the shorts," according to the affidavit. The court records did not identify this person.

Yazeed was in possession of Blanchard's vehicle, though the person did not see the teen, according to the court records.

"The subject further advised during a subsequent conversation with Yazeed, Yazeed admitted to shooting a girl, and stated the girl 'went for the gun,'" according to the documents.

Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said Monday that Yazeed, 29, would face a capital murder charge and also the death penalty in the disappearance and murder of 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard.

Death penalty:Ibraheem Yazeed allegedly shot Aniah Blanchard, will face the death penalty, DA says

Aniah Blanchard timeline:What we know about the disappearance, search for Alabama teen

"The process of seeing justice done for Aniah and her family will not be swift, but I can promise it will be thorough," he said during a news conference.

Blood found in Aniah Blanchard's car after she went missing

Blanchard, a student at Southern Union State Community College, was last seen on video surveillance footage at a convenience store on Oct. 23. The next day her family reported her missing.

Her car was recovered at a Montgomery apartment complex, 55 miles west of her last known location, a few days later, and contained evidence of "a life-threatening amount of blood."

Her family:Aniah Blanchard's family still hears the voice and laughter of their 'baby girl'

Dr. Phil interview:5 takeaways from Aniah Blanchard’s parents ‘Dr. Phil’ interview. 'We're going to get you. I promise.'

A little more than a month after Blanchard was seen last, law enforcement found human remains. Those remains were later identified as Blanchard's.

Three charged in Aniah Blanchard's disappearance

At the Monday press conference, Hughes said at that an autopsy revealed Blanchard had been shot to death.

Antwain "Squirmy" Fisher, 35, was charged with first-degree kidnapping for aiding Yazeed by giving him a ride and disposing of evidence, according to court records. Hours after Fisher appeared in court for the first time, Blanchard's remains were discovered and 63-year-old David Lee Johnson Jr. was charged with hindering prosecution in connection to the case.

Yazeed, however, was the sole person responsible for Blanchard's abduction and death, Hughes said.

At the time of Blanchard's kidnapping, Yazeed was free on a $295,000 bond on charges of kidnapping, attempted murder, robbery and possession of marijuana in connection with the beating of two men in a Montgomery hotel in January. He'll appear in court Thursday in Montgomery to face a bond revocation hearing on the January charges.

More:Aniah Blanchard missing: What to know about Ibraheem Yazeed charges, Florida court case

More:Suspect in Aniah Blanchard case lied about his son's involvement with another suspect, documents say

Fisher pleaded guilty to felony murder in 2007 and served three years in prison with 17 years suspended.

A Lee County Judge last month ordered Yazeed held without bond and also ordered him to submit to a DNA test, to compare against a sample found in Blanchard's car. Fisher is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Dec. 18.

A gag order has been imposed on attorneys, prosecutors and witnesses in the case. Alabama media organizations, including the Montgomery Advertiser, are challenging the order. A hearing is set for Wednesday.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Kirsten Fiscus at 334-318-1798 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KDFiscus

Aniah Blanchard fought back and 'went for the gun,' according to court records Ibraheem Yazeed allegedly shot Aniah Blanchard, will face the death penalty, DA says

Suspect in Aniah Blanchard case lied about his son's involvement with another suspect, documents say

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None found.

Criminal Details

WTVY.com
Staff Report - Feb 28, 2017

Elba Police have released the victim's name in a fatal Coffee County shooting.

27-year-old Nicholas Tyler Bolling of Andalusia was shot late Monday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 84 and County Road 501. He was pronounced dead at Medical Center Enterprise.

No one has been charged in connection with the incident.

Elba Police Chief Fred Hanchey says the investigation is continuing.

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Criminal Details

WTVY.com
May 8, 2005

A suspect in a deadly Dothan shootout changed his plea to guilty. Nineteen-year-old Emmanuel Perkins was accused of gunning down 15-year-old Sumner Bonds. The shooting happened in February of last year. Police say the two teenagers pulled guns and opened fire during an argument. Bonds died at a Dothan hospital. Perkins pled guilty to murder and two other lesser charges. He was sentenced to 20-years in prison.

Criminal Details

PolkSheriff.org
Carrie Eleazer - April 24, 2010

Polk County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives have made an arrest in the homicide of 24-year-old Courtney Bright, charging the father of Ms. Bright’s girlfriend, Jerry Lee Seger, DOB 2/13/70, of Lakeland, with one count First Degree Murder.

According to the affidavit, detectives interviewed several friends and acquaintances of the victim’s after her body was found dead as a result of strangulation in a foreclosed home located at 3510 Knights Station Road in Lakeland. One of the first people the detectives identified and interviewed was Ashley Dunn, DOB 1/24/87, who is currently in the Polk County Jail on a warrant from Jackson County. Detectives learned that Dunn and Bright have been dating for approximately the past three years. Dunn gave the detectives the names and phone numbers of her and Bright’s friends. Dunn also told detectives that she and Bright had been at the house on Knights Stations Road (where Bright’s body was found) in the past to hang out with friends, and because they knew the previous owner of the house through Dunn’s father, Jerry Seger.

Detectives also interviewed Bright’s next-of-kin, her grandmother Mary Bright in Marianna, Florida, who gave them a list of phone numbers that Courtney Bright had most recently used from which to call her. With these phone numbers and the list of names from Courtney Bright’s girlfriend Ashley, detectives were able to follow the last days of Courtney Bright’s life.

On Friday, April 23rd, detectives interviewed a friend of the victim’s, Shawn Thompson, who told them he last heard from the victim on Tuesday, April 20th. Shawn said that Courtney called him and asked him for money and a place to stay. After the phone call, Jerry Seger (Ashley Dunn’s father) and another man, Rabon Strain, came over to Thompson’s house. After discussing with Seger what happened with Ashley and why she was in jail, Seger then asked Thompson if he had heard from Courtney Bright recently. Thompson then told him about his most recent telephone conversation with Courtney, and that he was going to pick her up and give her some money. At that point, Seger told Thompson he would go get the victim instead, and give her a bus ticket to leave town. Thompson did not call Courtney to tell her the change in plans. Thompson did not see Seger again until later that evening, and on April 22nd, but Seger did not mention Courtney on either of those subsequent occasions.

On Friday, April 23rd, detectives also interviewed Rabon Strain, who had accompanied Jerry Seger to Thompson’s house and later when he picked up Courtney Bright on April 20th. Strain said that in his presence Seger made several statements about Courtney, such as that he blamed his daughter Ashley’s arrest on her, and that he never liked her. He also told Strain that he was going to kill Courtney. According to Strain, throughout Tuesday, April 20th, Seger continued to drink alcohol and make spontaneous statements that he was going to kill Courtney. After Seger picked Courtney up on US Hwy 98, Strain asked Seger to take him to a friend’s house, where he was going to attempt to calm Seger down. However, after dropping Strain off, Seger drove away with Courtney in the car.

Jerry Seger called Rabon Strain about one-and-a-half hours after dropping him off at a friend’s house and told him he needed to talk. When Jerry got there, Strain noticed some women’s clothing and shoes, and a wallet, in the back of Jerry’s Ford Explorer. When Strain asked what happened to Courtney, Jerry told him that he had killed her by strangling her, and that he had disposed of her body. Strain tried to get Jerry to tell him where Courtney was so he could go check on her, but Jerry refused. Jerry Seger then told Strain not to tell anyone about what he had done. The victim’s clothes and wallet were also seen by the friend whose house Strain was at, and later by Jerry Seger’s girlfriend when Jerry went home.

The medical examiner determined during the autopsy which was conducted on Friday, April 23rd, that Courtney Bright died sometime during the evening hours of Tuesday, April 20th, or Wednesday, April 21st. She was also found wearing no clothes, except a pair of socks, with a T-shirt over her head.

Based on the sworn witness statements and the evidence recovered at the scene, detectives obtained a warrant for the arrest of 40-year-old Jerry Seger, of 4429-A Stirrup Road in Lakeland, charging him with First Degree Murder, and placed him under arrest on Saturday, April 24, 2010. He has been booked into the Polk County Jail where he will remain under no bond until a first appearance hearing on Sunday.

Jerry Seger has been in the Polk County Jail on 12 previous occasions, on charges such as: Possession of Meth, Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Cannabis, Resisting Arrest, Possession of Paraphernalia, Grand Theft, Forgery, VOP, No Valid DL, and Non-Payment of Child Support.

Criminal Details

DothanEagle.com
Staff Reports - Jan 10, 2017 Updated Feb 19, 2019

Parole denied for man convicted in 1990 Houston County murder

A man found living in New Orleans 10 years after killing a woman outside a Houston County nightclub was denied parole on Tuesday morning.

Vincent Lampkin, now 50 years old, had his case presented before the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to request early release from prison. He is serving a 99-year sentence for the 1990 shooting death of Gwendolyn Brock, who he confronted on Nov. 25, 1990, in the parking lot of the 500 Club in the Bay Springs Community as she was trying to leave. Lampkin shot Brock in the face with a .380-caliber pistol after asking her to return a ring he had given her. Brock later died at Flowers Hospital from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Lampkin eluded police capture for almost a decade, working as a barber in New Orleans under the name of Leon David Joseph. He was arrested on an aggravated assault charge against his wife in April 2001. Fingerprints obtained by police making that arrest identified him by his real name and he was arrested again in May 2001 and charged with Brock’s murder.

During his trial, Lampkin testified he was trying to hand the gun over to Brock when it went off accidentally. However, Chris White, who was with Brock that night, testified that tensions between Brock and Lampkin had been building for several months after she broke off a two-year relationship with Lampkin in the fall of 1990. White said Lampkin confronted him and Brock at the nightclub and later order White to get out of Brock's car.

Lampkin was convicted in January 2003 and sentenced to serve 99 years in prison.

Outgoing District Attorney Doug Valeska and incoming District Attorney Pat Jones both appeared before the parole board to protest early release for Lampkin.

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