Candles with the names of the four youths killed in a shooting and teddy bears wearing graduation caps stand outside the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio on Wednesday, in Dadeville, Ala.
Kimberly Chandler/AP
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Kimberly Chandler/AP
Candles with the names of the four youths killed in a shooting and teddy bears wearing graduation caps stand outside the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio on Wednesday, in Dadeville, Ala.
Kimberly Chandler/AP
DADEVILLE, Ala. — A fourth suspect was arrested Thursday and charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a 16th birthday party that killed four young people in Alabama, authorities announced.
Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. A total of four defendants now face involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the fatal shooting.
The 16th birthday shooting killed four young men, ranging in age from 17 to 23 and shocked the small town of Dadeville in East Alabama. In addition to the four killed, 32 others were injured, four of them critically. The party, in a dance studio just off the town square, was in full swing when shots rang out.
Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, of Tuskegee and Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskegee were arrested Tuesday. Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested Wednesday. The district attorney said the teenagers will be tried as adults as required by Alabama law when someone 16 or older is charged with murder.
The birthday girl’s brother, Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell of Camp Hill, 18, died as his sister knelt beside him begging him to keep breathing. He and another fatal victim, 17-year-old Shaunkivia Nicole “KeKe” Smith of Dadeville, were high school seniors. Also killed were 19-year-old Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins of Opelika, and 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontrey Holston of Dadeville.
The shooting was the 16th mass killing in the United States this year. Tuesday the 17th occurred in Maine. A total of 88 people have died in the killing so far in 2023.
A mass murder is defined as the killing of four or more people other than the perpetrator, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
