On a summer evening in the Selmont community of Selma, Alabama, a card game among acquaintances took a fatal turn, ending the life of 27-year-old Jermaine Tarver of Lowndesboro. It was June 12, 2016, and Tarver was at a residence on Towns Circle when an argument erupted. The dispute began over comments made by 23-year-old Vadarius Hall regarding Tarver's gold teeth.
As the confrontation escalated, Tarver decided to leave.
However, as he was making his way out, Hall armed himself with a firearm and shot Tarver multiple times. A private vehicle rushed Tarver to Vaughan Regional Medical Center, but his injuries proved to be too severe, and he was pronounced dead. In the chaotic moments that followed the initial shooting, another individual, 18-year-old La'Darris Dees, who had reportedly remained in a vehicle during the initial argument, began firing at a second person who was attempting to come to Tarver's aid.
In the aftermath of the deadly shooting, Vadarius Hall fled the state with the help of two Selma women, 21-year-old Kenyatta Shantae Wilson and 19-year-old Jalysa Shanjetti Turner. Their assistance led to their subsequent arrests on charges of first-degree hindering prosecution for knowingly helping Hall evade capture. Law enforcement authorities eventually tracked down and apprehended Hall in Miami, Florida. La'Darris Dees was also arrested and faced charges of capital murder, attempted murder, and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle.
The wheels of justice turned, and in July 2019, Vadarius Hall was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle. For his role in the death of Jermaine Tarver, Hall was sentenced to life in prison. The case was a stark reminder of a surge in homicides that plagued Selma in 2016, a year that saw 17 reported murders, the highest number in over a decade.
