Photo from Jefferson County Jail
Erron Brown
Erron Martez Dequan Brown
A Jefferson County judge today ruled that prosecutors must release video evidence related to a Thanksgiving night shooting at the Riverchase Galleria to the attorney of a 20-year-old Bessemer man charged with attempted murder at the mall that night.
Authorities have charged 20-year-old Erron Martez Dequan Brown with attempted murder, saying he was the person who shot 18-year-old Brian Wilson in the torso during a confrontation on the concourse at the mall.
Brown’s attorney, Charles Salvagio, said he filed a motion requesting that prosecutors turn over evidence in the case, including all videos and police body camera footage related to the shooting, and Jefferson County District Judge William Bell Jr. today granted his motion.
Salvagio said he is asking both for any videos in Wilson’s shooting and the subsequent fatal shooting of 21-year-old Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr. by a Hoover police officer.
“I will ask for everything,” he said. But it will be up to the judge as to what evidence is considered “discoverable,” he said.
Bradford’s parents have been asking the Hoover Police Department and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for those videos as well, but ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor has said that releasing any evidence in the case at this point could compromise the integrity of the investigation. He said ALEA would not release the videos or other evidence but instead would turn it over to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office after ALEA’s investigation is complete.
Salvagio, when asked if he would share any of the videos with Bradford’s parents or the public, said he didn’t know at this point because he hasn’t seen any of it. “I wouldn’t share anything the judge asked me not to share,” he said.
His client, Brown, was apprehended by U.S. marshals and Alabama and Georgia law enforcement officials on Nov. 29 in Fairburn, Georgia. He remained in the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham today, with bond set at $125,000, Salvagio said.
Brown has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 17.
Brown’s family members held a press conference today to let people know that “he’s not the monster they have made him out to be,” Salvagio said. “He’s a good kid.”
