Two of the teens charged in the Jan. 4 shooting death of A.J. Huff faced a judge Thursday, as their cases were bound over to a grand jury for possible indictment.
Broderick Lawrence Pearson, 18, and Kalab Blake Whitworth, 16, are accused of capital murder in connection with Huff’s death during a purported drug deal that prosecutors say was a setup for a robbery. Three others are charged in the murder, and have preliminary hearings set for next week.
Gadsden Police Det. Autumn Dickson’s testimony indicated neither Pearson nor Whitworth pulled the trigger, although both were present at the meeting place for the drug deal at Starnes Park and at the scene of the shooting, at the intersection of Hoke Street and Litchfield Avenue.
Dickson said she was notified the night of the shooting that a victim was at Gadsden Regional Medical Center, and that he might not survive. By the time she arrived, Huff was dead.
She talked to witnesses there and learned of a planned drug deal — that Huff was to meet Tyler Michael Abbott, 17, of Hanceville, to sell him an ounce and a quarter of marijuana.
Huff and six others, ages 15 to 18, went to Starnes Park for the meeting, Dickson testified. The van was backed into a parking bay when a black Chevrolet Impala arrived, parked some distance away on the driver’s side of the van, then moved to the opposite side. During that time, Huff was receiving messages from Abbott via Messenger.
Dickson said witnesses from the van told police someone from the Impala motioned to Huff to come over; Huff motioned for them to come over, and neither would.
“They had a bad feeling about it, so they took off,” she said the survivors in the van told her. The Impala pursued them, and when they stopped at the intersection, the car pulled up behind them.
The witnesses said two men got out of the passenger side of the car and approached the passenger side of the van, and one of them — Lonterry Orlando Harrison Jr., according to witnesses in both vehicles — fired four shots, then went back to the vehicle and fled.
When those in the van realized Huff had been shot, they drove to GRMC.
After talking to witnesses, Dickson said, detectives contacted Abbott and learned that he was messaging Huff from his father’s home in the Cullman area — that he wasn’t in the car with the other four charged in the case.
According to Dickson, Abbott told them he was taking directions from Whitworth — that Whitworth asked him to set up the meeting with Huff, and that Abbott was supposed to receive a portion of the marijuana they planned to take from Huff.
Dickson said when detectives contacted Whitworth, he told them he was in the Impala with Jessie James Altman, 17, of Rainbow City, Pearson and Harrison, when they went to meet Huff and rob him of the marijuana. He confirmed what witnesses from the van said — that no one would get out and approach the other vehicle.
Dickson said Whitworth told them after setting up “the lick,” as they referred to the planned robbery in texts and messages, he decided he didn’t want to do it, so he “gave it to Jessie Altman.”
When Altman came to get him Jan. 4, Whitworth went with him and was present during the shooting.
In statements to police, Pearson said when the Impala pulled up behind the van at the intersection, he and Harrison got out and approached the passenger side of the van.
Dickson said Whitworth told police Pearson, in the front passenger seat of the Impala, was saying “let’s get ‘em,” or “go get ‘em” or similar encouragements before getting out of the vehicle.
Etowah County Deputy District Attorney Brynn Crain referred to the comments as “encouragement” to commit the crime.
Randy Phillips, representing Pearson, along with Dani Bone and Sam Bone, questioned whether it meant “go get the dope.”
Pearson told detectives that all the people in the Impala got out at the intersection, Dickson said. Other witnesses indicated two people got out, and witnesses from the van told police it was two black males that approached the van, defense attorney John Floyd elicited on cross-examination. He and Richard Rhea are appointed counsel for Whitworth.
In addition to the probable cause hearing, Circuit Judge George Day took motions under consideration asking that bond be set for Pearson and Whitworth.
Attorneys for the defendants noted, in separate hearings, that neither has been accused of pulling the trigger in the case. No statements discussed in court indicated Pearson knew that Harrison had a gun.
Gadsden Police Sgt. Mark Henderson said as far as he knew, Pearson didn’t tell detectives he was aware of plans to rob Huff.
Dickson said Whitworth’s father had given a statement indicating Whitworth told him Altman gave Harrison the gun while they were in the Impala.
Dani Bone asked that bond be set for Pearson, possibly through Community Corrections, which would keep the defendant in check, keep him accountable and would be something that his family might be able to afford. He said Pearson has no prior felonies and no juvenile record.
Floyd asked for bond for Whitworth, citing that fact that he’s 16 and is being held in a adult detention center. He said the accusations seems to be of a “conspiracy” type involvement in the crime, and he noted statements indicating Whitworth was reluctant to be involved in the incident.
Crain said while he might have expressed reluctance, Whitworth got in the car with Altman to go to the meeting, and he was present when the crime occurred.
He noted screenshots of messages between Whitworth and Abbott after they learned Huff died, where Whitworth told Abbott to delete his Messenger account — an attempt, Crain said, to destroy evidence.
Floyd also told Day that he’d filed a motion Thursday morning challenging the constitutionality of the law that automatically puts Whitworth in adult court in the capital case. He said the Alabama law that automatically puts a 16-year-old in adult court for a capital case without a hearing violates the right to due process, and improperly puts the case in adult court based solely on age.