Two teens charged with murder in killing of Hoover 18-year-old during robbery attempt

January 24, 2018 6:10 PM

Photo courtesy of Hoover Police Department

Two teenagers have been charged with murder in connection with the Dec. 26 shooting death of an 18-year-old Hoover resident, Hoover police said today.

But neither of those charged pulled the trigger of the gun that was used to kill Tyric Savion Toodle in the parking lot of the Elevation Hoover apartment complex off Lorna Road where Toodle lived.

Instead, authorities charged two teenagers that police say joined Toodle in trying to commit a robbery during a drug transaction.

According to police, Toodle, 18-year-old Isaiah Jovan Flowers of Birmingham and a 15-year-old from Hoover planned to rob a drug dealer on Dec. 26.

Toodle and Flowers were involved in a physical altercation with the driver (drug dealer) and passenger inside a car when the passenger pulled a gun and shot Toodle in the head, Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said.

The driver and passenger left the scene but were later identified, Rector said. The person who fired the fatal round has been located and is cooperating with detectives, he said. He has not been charged.

“Basically, it would be a case of self-defense,” Rector said. “Even though the driver was involved in illegal activity, Mr. Toodle and his accomplices were planning a robbery, and the driver and passenger have a right to defend themselves.”

Toodle’s two accomplices in the robbery also have been cooperative and given full statements, but they are the ones being charged with murder, Rector said. Alabama law allows people to be charged with murder if they are involved in a felony crime when someone gets killed.

Two similar cases have happened in Birmingham in recent months, but Rector said this is the first time he can remember that law being applied in a Hoover murder case.

“This was a tragic case, and it’s just terrible that such a young man died,” Rector said. “Mr. Toodle was involved in some very dangerous activities, and sadly, it cost him his life.”

Photo courtesy of Emily Hand

Flowers was arrested at 5 p.m. on Monday by University of South Alabama police officers, Rector said. He was taken to the Mobile County Metro Jail and later transferred to the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham, where he was being held on a $95,000 bond.

The 15-year-old boy, whom police would not name because of his juvenile status, was taken into custody at 4:15 p.m. today and was taken to Jefferson County Family Court.

Police ask that anyone with additional information about this case call Detective Drew Mims at 205-739-7274 or the Hoover Police Department at 205-822-5300.