The Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville AL was a place where teenagers and young children could take Zumba and line dancing classes; and on Saturday, April 15, it was where Alexis Dowdell was supposed to be having her sweet sixteen birthday party. But, instead of a celebration, the community is now in mourning after the occurrence of yet another violent mass shooting in America.
Presently, no motive has been identified for the cause of this latest deadly mass shooting, but police have been investigating and making arrests. Late last night, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced that they’d charged a sixth person in Alabama birthday party shooting case, a 15-year-old from Tuskegee, AL, along with “Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, [who] were arrested Tuesday. Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, Alabama, was arrested Wednesday. Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee and Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn, were arrested Thursday.”
All six were “charged with four counts of reckless murder…and are currently being held at the Tallapoosa County Jail without bond,” and the teens are expected to be tried as adults per Alabama’s law for anyone charged with murder at the age of 16 years or older.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg in forthcoming charges,” said Mike Segrest, district attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Alabama,” adding “We’re going to make sure every one of those victims has justice, and not just the deceased.”
After learning of the announcements about these arrests, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted out, “Violent crime has NO place in Alabama and what happened in Dadeville was horrific. I’m proud of the major progress made by law enforcement. The work is not done, and we will fully support ALEA as they work to ensure we hold ALL responsible for this tragedy accountable.”
The four victims killed in this shooting were identified on Monday “as Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17; Philstavious Dowdell, 18; Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19; and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23,” the New York Times reports, along with 32 others who sustained injuries from shots fired into the crowd.
Philstavious was there to celebrate with his little sister, but instead Alexis was kneeling beside her brother as he took his final breaths, “[t]here’s uncut cake and unburnt 16 candles that never got lit.”
The Alabama shooting marks the 16th mass shooting for this year, with a 17th taking place on Tuesday in Maine. Thus far, 88 lives have been taken as a result of mass killings in 2023, which “is defined as the slaying of four or more people other than the perpetrator.”