In the quiet community of Holt, Alabama, a grim discovery marked the end of concern for the whereabouts of 42-year-old Eric Shane Hatter and his companion, Shelli Wallace. For several days, family members had been unable to reach them, a silence that prompted a welfare check at their residence on Garber Street. What they found was a scene of devastation; the mobile home had been reduced to ashes, a silent testament to a tragedy that had gone unnoticed for days.
Upon the arrival of Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies, the charred debris yielded a horrifying truth. The remains of two individuals were found within the ruins, later identified as Eric Shane Hatter and Shelli Wallace. The initial investigation by the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit quickly pointed towards foul play, transforming a suspected accident into a homicide case. Investigators determined that the fire had likely occurred sometime between the night of Monday, May 9, and the morning of Tuesday, May 10, 2022, and had gone unreported.
As the investigation intensified, forensic evidence was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for analysis. The findings from the autopsy painted a brutal picture of the final moments of Hatter and Wallace. It was determined that Eric Shane Hatter had been fatally shot, while Shelli Wallace had been stabbed to death before the mobile home was set ablaze in an apparent attempt to conceal the crimes.
The diligent work of investigators led them to a suspect, 39-year-old Patrick Darnell Campos. After being located and interviewed by the Violent Crimes Unit, evidence was presented to a magistrate, leading to warrants for his arrest. In June 2022, Patrick Darnell Campos was taken into custody and charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of Eric Shane Hatter and Shelli Wallace. He was subsequently booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail and held without bond. In a strange turn of events, it was revealed that hours after the alleged murders are believed to have taken place, Campos had been arrested in connection with an unrelated armed robbery of a vehicle at a gas station. He had been released on bond for those charges before being identified as the suspect in the double homicide.
