In the quiet community of Smiths Station, Alabama, a dispute between acquaintances on an autumn evening escalated into a tragedy that claimed the life of Anthony Levi Hodge. The 34-year-old man was fatally shot in the chest outside his residence at Sawyers Mobile Home Park on Lee Road 246 on Sunday, October 19, 2025. The incident, which shattered the peace of the neighborhood, unfolded around 6:30 p.m.
and was the apparent culmination of a disagreement between Hodge and another man.
Emergency services were dispatched to the scene, and Hodge was transported by ambulance to Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, he was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Lee County Coroner's Office later confirmed the cause of death and arranged for a postmortem examination to be conducted at the Alabama Department of Forensic Science Montgomery Medical.
The investigation into the shooting led Lee County Sheriff's Office deputies to a suspect a short time after the incident. Acting on information received, they located 20-year-old Jeremy Chandler Wiggins in a white pickup truck at Terry's Grocery. Wiggins was taken into custody without incident. Investigators also recovered the handgun believed to have been used in the fatal shooting. The families of both men were reportedly known to each other, adding another layer of sorrow to the event.
Following his arrest, Jeremy Chandler Wiggins of Phenix City was charged with one count of murder. He was booked into the Lee County Jail and is being held without bond pending an Aniah's Law hearing. The investigation into the circumstances that led to the deadly confrontation is ongoing, as authorities work to piece together the events that transpired between the two acquaintances. The untimely death of Anthony Levi Hodge has left his family and the Smiths Station community mourning the loss of a man described as a cherished family man. The incident also sparked a local conversation about gun violence, with a petition being started by a family relative to raise the legal age for firearm ownership in Alabama.
