Two teenagers have been charged with four counts of reckless murder each after a shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville on Saturday night that killed one person and hurt 32 others. The charges were made public Wednesday by law officials.
Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both from Tuskegee, were taken in Macon County at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Reckless murder is a Class A felony and the jail time for it can be anywhere from 10 to 99 years.
Mike Segrest, the prosecutor for the 5th Circuit, said that the teens are being charged as adults. He said that an Aniah’s Law meeting will be set up in the next three days. The law, which was passed last year, says that people accused of certain dangerous crimes can be kept in jail without bail. He said that the state will not ask for bail.
The Montgomery Advertiser is publishing the names of the minor suspects because they are being charged as adults and the charges are serious.
At a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, state and local police made the announcement on the steps of the Tallapoosa County Courthouse, which is about a block from where the shooting happened. Before that, officials had confirmed how many people had been killed and hurt and said there was no longer a danger.
Sgt. Jeremy Burkett Didn’t Answer Most Questions
At the press conference, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency answered a few questions but didn’t answer most of them, like why the public wasn’t told about any possible suspects who were still out there.
Burkett also wouldn’t say anything about a possible reason or how many and what size shell casings were found at the crime scene. ALEA did say on Tuesday that empty shell casings from gun rounds were found, but that no empty shell casings from high-powered rifle rounds were found.
Segrest said that there hasn’t been much news about the case because of how the investigation is going. He said that four others who were shot at the party are still in very bad shape. “We’re going to make sure that justice is done for all of those victims, not just the ones who died,” Segrest said.
The tweet below verifies the news:
JUST IN: Two teen suspects have been arrested and charged with four counts of reckless murder for the deadly shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama.
17-year old Ty Reik McCullough and 16-year old Travis McCullough were taken into custody on Tuesday night.
— Rachel Acenas (@RachelAcenas) April 19, 2023
Segrest said that the four charges against the McCulloughs are for the four deaths. There will probably be more charges, including charges about the 32 people who were hurt.
The charge of reckless murder can be hard to understand.
“You can’t say ‘I didn’t know’ as a defense,” said CJ Robinson, the district attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit. He is not part of the probe, and he works for the counties of Autauga, Chilton, and Elmore. “Reckless murder is when you do something that puts the lives of one or more people in danger even though you know it.”
Jonathan Floyd, the chief of police in Dadeville, asked people to keep being patient.
“These arrests are just the tip of the iceberg, the very beginning,” Floyd said. “This is our only chance to do it right. We will make sure and move very slowly and carefully. Getting someone arrested isn’t the end of the story.”
He said that the goal is to get sentences that will lead to “final justice for our victims.”
A small group of people from the town met on the courthouse lawn or nearby to hear what was said at the meeting. Many people were sad when they left.
Ray Hale was sitting on a bench in front of Ellaby Boutique, which was across the street from the building. He said, “I’m glad they caught two people.” “But I want to know if they are looking for anyone else, and if so, how many. I understand why you don’t want to say more, what with all the work going on and all. But we need to know who else they are looking for.”
Tallapoosa County Coroner Mike Knox told the Montgomery Advertiser on Monday morning that he knew the names of the four people who had died in the killing. They were 18-year-old Dadeville High School senior Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 17-year-old Dadeville High School senior KeKe Smith, the 19-year-old singer and Opelika native Marsiah “Siah” Collins, and 23-year-old Dadeville native Corbin Holston.
Burkett asked other people who were at the party to tell him what they knew.
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