Suspects are at top from left, Tyreese McCullough, 17; Wilson LaMar Hill Jr, 20; and Travis McCullough, 16, and at bottom are from left, Johnny Letron Brown, 20; and Willie George Brown Jr., 19. The five have been arrested and charged with reckless murder in connection with a shooting that killed four young people at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party in rural Alabama, investigators announced on April 19, 2023. A 15-year-old who has not been publicly identified has also been charged with reckless murder in the case. (Alabama Law Enforcement agency)
At least seven guns were fired in the Dadeville Sweet 16 birthday party that left four people dead and 32 injured, leaving 89 shell casings on the floor of the dance studio, a special agent with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency testified Tuesday.
Killed in the shooting were Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23.
Those charged with reckless murder and being held in the Tallapoosa County Jail are: 20-year-old Johnny Letron Brown of Tuskegee; 19-year-old Willie George Brown Jr. of Auburn; 20-year-old Wilson LaMar Hill Jr. of Auburn, and brothers Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskeegee.
A 15-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, is also charged.
An “Aniah’s Law” hearing was held this morning and the judge said he would decide within 24 to 48 hours whether the suspects will be held without bail until trial.
Johnny Brown, Willie Brown, and Wilson Hill were in the court this morning.
Hearings were scheduled this afternoon for the McCullough brothers but the judge said reporters would not be allowed to attend because they are juveniles.
Special Agent Jess Thornton, the lead investigator in the case, testified there were 50 to 60 people inside the hall, which is 38-feet-long and 26-feet-wide.
Aftermath of Dadeville shooting on April 15, 2023. (Mike Cason/TNS)
At one point in the evening, a DJ’s speaker fell over, making a sound similar to a gunshot, Thornton said. When that happened, several of the young people there lifted their shirts to show they had guns.
LaTonya Allen, mother of Phil Dowdell and birthday girl Alexis Dowdell, said anyone over 18 or carrying a gun needed to leave.
Not long after that, shots rang out leaving “multiple shell casings, blood everywhere,” Thornton testified.
One of the guns was found sitting on the chest of Holston’s lifeless body. The gun had been fired, Thornton said.
Witnesses also said Holston at one point wore a ski mask.
“Most of the suspects said he fired first,” Thornton said.
Another gun was found in Collins’ waistband, but it had not been fired.
Those were the only two guns recovered from the scene. At least four different caliber weapons were fired, Thornton said. Those were a 9 millimeter, 22 caliber, 40 caliber and 45 caliber.
Witnesses reported hearing rapid fire and Thornton testified one defendant admitted his gun had been altered to be fully automatic and investigators believe another gun had also been converted to automatic.
The six defendants are all relatives or friends, Thornton said. They were not invited but knew of the party and met up there from Auburn and Tuskegee.
Of the six, only Willie Brown denied being at the party. Thornton said, however, shell casings from an unrelated incident in Auburn in which he is a suspect matched one used in Dadeville.
One the juvenile suspects, it was not clear which, had an ankle monitor from an unrelated shooting in Tuskegee and its GPS tracker showed he was in Dadeville.
Jeanette Darden, an aunt to at least four of the suspects including the McCullough brothers, said she believes her nephews are being railroaded.
“I pray for all (the victims) families. I deeply pray for them and my heart goes out to them. But I also pray for my family.”
Defendants in the Dadeville shooting are brought into court on April 25, 2023. (Carol Robinson/TNS)
Asked how the suspects are holding up, Darden said, “They’re messed up. It really hurts. We’re all hurting.”
Today’s hearing
Aniah’s Law passed in 2022 in response to a crime that attracted statewide attention. Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student from Homewood, was abducted from a convenience store in Auburn in October 2019. A month later, authorities found Blanchard’s body in rural Macon County.
The man charged in Blanchard’s kidnapping and murder, Ibraheem Yazeed, had been released from jail on a $280,000 bond after being charged with kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder from a January 2019 incident in Montgomery.
Charging documents against Hill state that he, Travis McCullough and Tyreese McCullough, who also goes by Ty Reik McCullough, were present and discharged firearms into the crowd, causing the deaths of the four victims. The new expanded the list of crimes for which a defendant could be held without bail.
The documents also stated Johnny Brown and Willie Brown were together that night and fired shots at the Mahogany’s Masterpiece dance studio, one block from the courthouse.
Under Alabama law, the crime of reckless murder is committed when a person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself and causes the death of another person.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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