4th and 5th suspects arrested in connection with the shooting at Sweet 16 birthday party in Alabama

DADEVILLE, Ala. —  A fourth man and a fifth man were arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Alabama that killed four people and injured dozens more, authorities said.

Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee, was charged with four counts of reckless murder, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the state police, said in a statement.

The agency also announced the arrest of Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn. He was also charged with four counts of reckless murder, state police said.

Tyreese "Ty Reik" McCullough, 17, and his brother Travis McCullough, 16, who also live in Tuskegee, were arrested Tuesday night, while Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

“All individuals arrested in connection to this death investigation have been charged with four counts of Reckless Murder and they have been booked into the Tallapoosa County Jail with no bond,” the state police statement said.

Johnny Letron Brown has a clean criminal record and is set to go to Faulkner University in the fall to play NAIA football, said his mother, Amanda Riley.

“He didn’t do any shooting. When the firearms started firing off, he got down on the floor,” she said. “My kids don’t carry weapons, I’m going to tell you that right now. The FBI just searched my house. They couldn’t find one weapon in my house. They didn’t find one bullet in my house and in my shed out back.”

Riley said Thursday her son and Willie George Brown Jr. are first cousins. She declined to comment on behalf of Brown Jr. because, she said, she didn't know about his alleged role at the party. Other relatives of Brown Jr. could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

The gunfire, which injured 32 people in addition to the four who were killed, erupted at about 10:34 p.m. Saturday at a dance studio on Broadnax Street in Dadeville, where friends and family were celebrating a 16-year-old girl’s birthday, police said.

The four people who were killed were Shaunkivia Smith, 17; Marsiah Collins, 19; Corbin Holston, 23; and Philstavious Dowdell, 18. Dadeville is about 25 miles northwest of Auburn University.

Dowdell is the brother of Alexis Dowdell, the birthday girl that night, 5th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest said.

Jamie Morrison reported from Dadeville, Alabama, and David K. Li in New York City.