15-year-old arrested in connection with Dadeville shooting

Law enforcement Thursday arrested and charged a 15-year-old in connection with the fatal shooting in Dadeville that killed four people and left 32 injured.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Thursday the teenager, from Tuskegee, was arrested at 11:45 a.m. The agency did not release a name.

The four dead were Marsiah Collins, 19; Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18; Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23 and Shaunkiva “KeKe” Smith, 17.

The teenager is the sixth person arrested in connection with the mass shooting. Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee was arrested Thursday. Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn, was also arrested Thursday and charged with four counts of “reckless murder.” Brown was arrested at around 11:45 a.m. Law enforcement arrested Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, on Tuesday. Wilson LaMar Hill, Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

All have been charged with four counts of “reckless murder,” a charge that does not appear in Alabama law code. Messages seeking comment from ALEA have not been returned.

ALEA has not discussed possible motives or the suspects’ connection to the victims.

A 2022 analysis made with Center for Disease Control data found that guns have been the leading cause of death for children in the United States since 2017. Alabama has the third-highest homicide rate in the country, according to the CDC.

More people in Alabama died from guns in 2020 than in New York, which has four times Alabama’s population. Alabama is ranked fifth in firearm mortality.