Biggest reveals from Tuesday's hearing for Dadeville shooting suspects

Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser
·4 min read
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Ten days after a mass shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party killed four and injured 32, five of six co-defendants charged in the case were brought before Tallapoosa District Judge Clayton Taylor at an Aniah’s Law hearing Tuesday morning. Here are some of the biggest revelations from the hearing, based on testimony from State Bureau of Investigations lead agent Jesse Thornton.

The victims

  • Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18

  • Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17

  • Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19

  • Corbin Dahmontrey Holston 23

  • Thirty-two other people were injured, some critically

The casket carrying Dadeville shooting victim Phil Dowdell is carried from his funeral at Dadeville High School in Dadeville, Ala., on Monday April 24, 2023.
The casket carrying Dadeville shooting victim Phil Dowdell is carried from his funeral at Dadeville High School in Dadeville, Ala., on Monday April 24, 2023.

The suspects

  • Tyreese "Ty Reik" McCullough, 17, of Tuskegee

  • Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskegee

  • Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn

  • Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee

  • Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn

  • A 15-year-old juvenile from Tuskegee

Who is SBI agent Jesse Thornton?

Agent Jesse Thornton is the State Bureau of Investigations' lead agent in the case and the only witness called by the state on Tuesday.

About the guns

An investigation by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) found:

  • Seven handguns were fired

  • Two of those guns had been illegally altered to fire automatically

  • The pistols were semi-automatic, meaning one round is fired for each pull of the trigger. Altered guns could fire several rounds with each trigger pull.

  • At the scene, 9 mm, .45-caliber, .40-caliber and .22-caliber shell casings were recovered.

The evidence: shell casings, ankle monitor

  • Five of the co-defendants allegedly admitted to investigators to being at the party and firing.

  • A co-defendant, who was not identified in testimony, was wearing an ankle monitor because was on bond for his alleged role in a Tuskegee shooting. The GPS tracker on the ankle monitor placed him at the Dadeville scene.

  • Willie Brown Jr. did not admit to firing a weapon, though his co-defendants said he did.

  • Spent .40-caliber rounds recovered at the scene of an Auburn shooting that occurred after the Dadeville incident matched spent rounds found in Dadeville. Willie Brown Jr. is a suspect in that Auburn shooting.

Mourners arrive as the funeral for Dadeville shooting victim Phil Dowdell is held at Dadeville High School in Dadeville, Ala., on Monday April 24, 2023.
Mourners arrive as the funeral for Dadeville shooting victim Phil Dowdell is held at Dadeville High School in Dadeville, Ala., on Monday April 24, 2023.

Did victim shoot first?

  • Investigators found two guns were found on victims inside the studio, including one that had been fired that was found lying on Corbin Holston's chest

  • A .45-caliber handgun was found on Siah Collins, but the BATFE investigations indicated that handgun had not been fired, Thornton testified.

  • George Bulls, attorney for Willie Brown Jr., asked Agent Jesse Thornton if Holston was wearing a ski mask and fired the first shot. SBI agent Thornton attributed that to witness testimony.

  • But the SBI agent also said it was unusual that a handgun would be on Holston’s chest, saying it was as if “someone placed it there.”

How agent says the shooting unfolded

  • The co-defendants “met up” at a residence in Tuskegee before going to the party in different vehicles. They were not invited to the party but heard about it on social media, and some of them knew other people who were going to the party.

  • Witnesses told investigators that several young men in the building had shown they had guns. An adult asked that anyone with a gun leave the venue. A chaotic scene unfolded several minutes later when the small, dimly lit room packed with more than 50 partygoers erupted in gunfire.

  • The room where the shooting happened is 38-feet long and 26-feet wide. The venue had one entrance and exit — the front doors — and the doors opened into the room.

  • The co-defendants were together in a rear corner of the room when the shooting began.

  • After the shooting, the four bodies were found “…laid together, side by side,” near the front door, Thornton said.

  • Afterward, at least five of the six “met up” again at a parking lot at the high school football stadium in Tallassee.

What defense attorneys raised

  • Anna Parker, who represents Hill, asked the SBI agent who was testifying whether he knew Hill had stayed behind after the shooting to render life-saving aid to some of the victims. The agent said he was not aware of Hill coming to the aid of victims.

  • Parker also asked Thornton whether Hill had ever been arrested or charged before this. Thornton said to his knowledge Hill had never been in trouble before the Dadeville shooting.

  • David Dawson, Johnny Brown’s attorney, asked Thornton if any witnesses identified his client as having fired at the party. Thornton said no witnesses said he fired, but that co-defendants and Brown himself admitted to investigators that he fired.

The charges

All six suspects have been charged with four counts of reckless murder each. Reckless murder is a Class A felony with a punishment range of 10 years to life in prison.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Biggest reveals from Tuesday hearing for Alabama shooting suspects