Timothy Jamarcus L. Johnson, 22, of Camden, had a first appearance hearing Friday afternoon before District Court Judge Mike Epley. Johnson was arrested Aug. 28 in connection with the shooting death of two men Aug. 24 at the VFW Hut in Magnolia. Byron Lavell Dunn, 20, of Magnolia was arrested Aug. 25 in connection with this case.
Both men are currently charged with terroristic act. Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Phillips said at a press conference following the hearing that charges were expected to be upgraded to capital murder for Dunn in the death of Brandon Thomas Hobdy, 23, of Garland, Texas, and to first degree murder for Johnson in the death of Wayne Alton Payton II, 24, of McNeil.
The shooting incident occurred at a private party at the VFW building on Hwy. 82 East.
Johnson was overcome with emotion and sobbed uncontrollably after entering the courtroom and had to be taken away for a few minutes to compose himself.
Security was tight in the courtroom with a number of Magnolia Police Department, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and Arkansas State Police officers present.
Epley explained to Johnson that terroristic act is a Class Y felony and is punishable by incarceration in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for no less than 10 years and no more than 40 years, and a fine up to $25,000.
Epley continued the $1 million bond previously set. Should he be released on bond, stipulations are that Johnson is to have no contact with witnesses in this case and must not violate any state, local, or federal law.
The judge appointed an attorney with the public defender’s office to represent Johnson. The case was bound over to Columbia County Circuit Court.
At the press conference, Phillips announced there was a third gunshot victim in this case, who suffered a “grazing blow” by a bullet but did not seek medical treatment. He said the prosecutor’s office is currently reviewing charges related to this shooting. “We are confident at this pont we have the two shooters who were involved,” he said.
“Since this occurred early Sunday morning, local law enforcement has done a tremendous job working together trying to get to the bottom of what happened,” Phillips said, citing the Magnolia Police Department, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Southern Arkansas University Police Department, and Arkansas State Police for their efforts. All agencies involved “have done a great job working out all the angles in this case,” he said.
“We are at this time prepared to file a capital murder charge against Byron Dunn for the death of Brandon Hobdy. That will be done later this afternoon or first thing Tuesday morning. Likewise with Timothy Johnson, we are prepared to charge him with first degree murder in the death of Mr. Payton,” Phillips said. “Information has been coming in. The two arrests for terroristic act were leading up to those and we now believe we have the witnesses, the facts, and the evidence to go ahead and make those charges.”
Arraignment for both suspects is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 4 at the next Columbia County Circuit Court date.
Sheriff Mike Loe stated that when this case occurred “we immediately realized we had a very serious case.” As always in Columbia County when such a situation arises, Loe said, “the Magnolia Police Department and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office get their heads together - so to speak - and go to work and they stay with it until the case is resolved. I don’t think in my professional opinion, this case would have been resolved as quickly as it has, had it not been for that cooperation.”
Loe added there were “still a few loose ends out there to be tied up. Both agencies are working to get that done.”
Loe said the two suspects “were not shooting at each other. They were shooting in the direction of other people.” He said until charges were amended by the prosecutor’s office, the case was still considered to be a random shooting
He said that no evidence was found to indicate either of the shootings were in self-defense.
Loe would not comment on a question as to whether there was a connection between the two shooters.
Earlier in the investigation, Loe had stated that cooperation was a challenge. “That was a big challenge when we first started, getting people to cooperate. As we went further into it, we got them out.”
Loe said it was unknown to authorities how many people were outside the VFW building when the gunfire started, but estimated it to be probably more than 50. “Anybody that was there that night was a potential victim,” he said.
The sheriff could not comment on whether the suspects had any relationships with anyone involved with this case. “I don’t want to get into specifics about statements and evidence that we have,” he said.
MPD Chief Glenn Maxwell acknowledged the efforts of the investigators, and thanked the victims’ families, the citizens of Columbia County, the SAU students and administration. “The result of the two arrests was a result of all agencies involved working together,” he said. “This was a joint effort of our agencies in the city and county, working together, that brought this to the point we are at right now.”
The question was asked of Phillips about the gap of time between the initial charge of terroristic act and the amended murder charges. “What you’ll find with the terroristic act is that firing into a crowd is actually an offense,” he said. “We start progressing toward a murder charge. You need to start talking about victims and matching them up to the shooters. That’s been the delay in the murder charges being filed. I think we topped that hill yesterday and this morning with some additional witnesses that have come forward.”
The charge of capital murder has a premediation requirement, Phillips explained, and first degree murder does not. “That is the distinction,” he said. “I won’t go into factually what caused that, but that’s going to be the differece between the two charges.”
When asked would the state consider asking for the death penalty against Dunn, the prosecutor said it was too early in the case to talk about that. “Certainly with a capital charge that is a possibility, with first degree murder charge it’s not. At this point in the game everything’s still on the table,” he said.
Phillips could not say at this point whether the two suspects would be tried together. “We’ve still got some issues that we’re trying to tie up on that, and I don’t think we can make an educated decision on that until we finish some of those loose ends.”
Phillips said nothing definitive has been received from the state crime lab on autopsy results. He said authorities do not know specifically what type of firearms were used, and would not comment as to whether the firearms have been recovered.