Alabama Criminal Law Round-Up November 18th

Here are a few of the criminal law stories that occurred around the state of Alabama this past week:

• Victims of an auto parts store robbery in Birmingham turned the tables on the suspect when they followed him and exchanged fire. Demetria Dinkins, Jr. fled the scene after crashing his vehicle and was then arrested after attempting to check himself into St. Vincent’s Hospital for the gunshot wounds. Birmingham police charged Dinkins with five counts of first-degree robbery and are holding him on bonds totaling $200,000.
• Police conducting a traffic stop near a Florence home encountered a suspect with marijuana paraphernalia inside his vehicle. Officers soon made their way to the suspect’s house, where they discovered several marijuana plants as well as two children under the age of six. They arrested a 30-year-old man and 27-year-old woman, charging them with first-degree possession of marijuana, endangering the welfare of a child and exposing children to narcotics. The female suspect, Jacqueline Hamner, was released on a $13,500 bond while the male suspect, Jeremy Hamner, is still in jail.
• Remains found in McCalla are believed to be the body of a 59-year-old Tuscaloosa man, Morris Davis Watson, who had been reported missing on September 9th. Police arrested two suspects who were identified as Watson’s ex-stepdaughter and her boyfriend. Though the pair were originally charged with stolen property, the fact that Watson’s death was determined to be caused by a gunshot means that the male suspect will be served a murder warrant after he is returned to Tuscaloosa.