In the early moments of August 21, 2016, a sense of tragedy befell a Decatur, Alabama community. Just after midnight, Morgan County 911 received a distressing call reporting a shooting on Danville Rd. SW. Responding officers and emergency personnel arrived to a grim scene where they found 19-year-old Braxton Reed Edwards had been fatally shot. His older brother, 23-year-old Cameron Jarod Edwards, was also discovered to have been wounded in the violent encounter.
Braxton was pronounced dead at the scene, while his brother was transported to Huntsville Hospital for medical treatment.
Braxton, born on January 7, 1997, in Decatur, was a young man with a life that had included playing football and wrestling at Bob Jones High School. He was a father to a daughter named Braylynn. His sudden death left a void in the lives of his mother, brother, grandparents, and a host of other relatives and friends who remembered him as a loving person. Following the incident, Braxton's body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Services for an autopsy to officially determine the cause of his death.
The Decatur Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit immediately launched an investigation into the homicide. Their efforts quickly led to the identification of two suspects: Darrin Samone Wilkes of Huntsville and Terrance Shaquille Ellison of Harvest, Alabama. Both men were subsequently arrested and faced serious charges for their alleged involvement in the incident. They were charged with Capital Murder in the death of Braxton Edwards and Assault in the 1st Degree for the shooting of Cameron Edwards. Following their arrest, Wilkes and Ellison were slated to be transferred to the Morgan County Jail, where they would be held without bond.
