Two teens, three adults, arrested in Alabama birthday shooting

Two teenagers and three adults have been arrested in connection to an Alabama shooting that left four people dead and more than 30 people injured over the weekend.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a tweet just after 11 a.m. that officials arrested a 17-year-old and 16-year-old and charged both teenagers with four counts of reckless murder.  

The agency later tweeted that authorities arrested Wilson LaMar Hill, Jr., a 20-year-old resident of Auburn, Ala., around 2:30 p.m. and charged him with four counts of reckless murder.

They tweeted again at about 12:50 p.m. Thursday that authorities arrested a fourth person in connection with the shooting. Johnny Letron Brown, a 20-year old resident of Tuskegee, was also charged with four counts of reckless murder.  

Officials announced later on Thursday at about 3:45 p.m. that a fifth arrest was made, and that officials charged Willie George Brown Jr. a 19-year-old from Auburn with four counts of reckless murder.

The latest update from the agency also notes that all five people arrested are being held in the Tallapoosa County Jail without bond.

This comes after shots were fired at a Sweet 16 birthday party Saturday night in Dadeville, Alabama, that was being held in a dance studio.

District Attorney Mike Segrest said at a press conference Wednesday that four people remain in critical condition as a result of the shooting, the Associated Press reported. He said the two teenagers will be charged as adults, and he will ask that they be held without bail.

“We’re going to make sure all those victims have justice, not just the deceased,” Segrest said at the press conference.

In Alabama, a reckless murder charge is defined as when an individual demonstrates that they “determined to follow a course of action that he/she knew, or should have known, would, in all probability,” lead to someone’s death.

The victims’ names were released to Nexstar’s WRBL and include Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, and Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17. The Associated Press reported that Dowdell was the birthday teenager’s brother and was a high school senior, along with another victim.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said officials recovered “numerous shell casings used in handguns” at the scene in an update provided Tuesday, but there was no evidence so far that there was high-powered rifle ammunition used in the shooting.

“Violent crime has NO place in Alabama and what happened in Dadeville was horrific. I’m proud of the major progress made by law enforcement. The work is not done, and we will fully support ALEA as they work to ensure we hold ALL responsible for this tragedy accountable,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said in a statement Wednesday.

Jared Gans contributed to this report.

— Updated 6:33 p.m.