Shaunkivia Nicole Smith, a 17-year-old Black senior at Dadeville High School, was just a month away from her graduation and birthday. Known to friends and family as “Keke,” she was a caring and dependable young woman with a smile her mother said everyone loved to see. After a knee injury ended her time as an athlete, she stayed involved with sports as a team manager for the basketball and track and field teams. Shaunkivia worked at a local market and was looking forward to attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the fall, with plans to become a neonatal intensive care unit nurse. Her cousin remembered her as a “big ball of sunshine.”
On the night of April 15, 2023, Shaunkivia was at a Sweet 16 birthday party held at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville, Alabama. The celebration was in full swing when gunfire erupted at about 10:30 p.m., turning the festive gathering into a scene of chaos and tragedy.
In the shooting, Shaunkivia and three other young people were killed. The other victims were 18-year-old Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 19-year-old Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, and 23-year-old Corbin Dehmontrey Holston. The mass shooting also left 32 other people injured, sending shockwaves through the small community.
A multi-agency investigation was launched, and investigators found 89 handgun shell casings at the scene. In the days and weeks that followed, authorities arrested several suspects. In May 2023, a grand jury indicted five individuals—Willie Brown, Jr., Tyreese McCullough, Travis McCullough, Sherman Peters III, and Wilson Hill—on dozens of charges, including four counts of reckless murder and multiple counts of assault. A sixth suspect was granted youthful offender status, and that case was sealed. The two McCullough brothers, despite being teenagers at the time of the shooting, were charged as adults.
As the case proceeded through the legal system, family members of the victims publicly voiced their opposition to potential plea agreements. In February 2026, they held a meeting to express their desire for each defendant to face a jury trial, stating that they were seeking accountability for the loss of their loved ones and the lasting trauma inflicted on the survivors.
In March 2026, the five adult defendants appeared in court and pleaded guilty to charges that included reckless murder and assault. During the hearing, one of the defendants, Tyreese McCullough, apologized, saying, “I am very sorry for what happened.” Each of the five men was sentenced to five years in state prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised probation. The victims’ families expressed their deep disappointment with the sentences and the district attorney’s handling of the case.
