Man accused in Eight Mile Paradise Lounge shooting free on bail

Published: Friday, December 24, 2010, 5:34 AM

MOBILE, Alabama -- While Andy Harvey’s family spends this Christmas mourning his death, the man accused of shooting and beating him to death is free on bail.

Harvey was shot this month outside the Paradise Lounge in the Eight Mile area, where he liked to play pool.

“We had Christmas presents under the tree for him,” said Harvey’s daughter in-law, Tosha Harvey. “He won’t ever get them.”

Jerry Dwayne Bohannon, 48, was released from Mobile County Metro Jail on $250,000 through a bonding company on Dec. 13, two days after police say he gunned down Harvey and Jerry DuBoise, 24, outside Paradise.

Prichard police said that the shooting was captured entirely on a surveillance camera. A family member of one of the victims said that the shooter also beat the men with his handgun until it broke.

Tosha Harvey of Satsuma said that her father-in-law loved his family, which included his wife, five children and seven grandchildren. She said her family’s pain has been worsened by Bohannon’s release from jail.

“It’s just really a tragic situation,” Tosha Harvey said. “I know our constitution says innocent until proven guilty, but it’s on surveillance tape. What more do they need?”

Prichard Police Chief Jimmie Gardner, concerned about Bohannon’s release, said prosecutors had sought a $500,000 bail. They then asked that the lower bail be paid in cash, he said, but District Judge George Hardesty denied the request.

Gardner said, “My responsibility is for the public safety. And I just think the guy is a threat to himself and the public.”

With the help of a bonding company, Bohannon paid no more than $25,000 to be freed with no monitoring, Gardner said.

He said the shooting was recorded “from start to finish,” but he declined to describe the events because of the ongoing investigation.

Defense lawyer Bob Clark said that Bohannon maintains his innocence and that evidence is still being gathered. “He has a right — a constitutional right — to bail,” Clark said.

According to the bartender that night, DuBoise and Harvey started playing pool about 2 a.m., mostly keeping to themselves. Harvey might have had one drink, the bartender said, but he didn’t finish it. DuBoise drank nothing but Coke.

Bohannon, who had been in and out of the bar since midnight, consumed a number of beers, according to the bartender.

Bohannon is scheduled to appear in Mobile County District Court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 27.

(Staff reporter David Ferrara contributed to this report.)

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Williamson High School student faces capital murder charge in Domino's Pizza shooting

Published: Monday, November 15, 2010, 6:23 PM

MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police arrested an 18-year-old Williamson High School student Monday and charged him with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a Domino’s Pizza employee earlier this month, authorities said.

John Earl Dortch remained in Mobile County Metro Jail Monday afternoon without bail in the Nov. 4 shooting death of Russell Lee Allen, 21, who was shot during the robbery at Domino’s Pizza, 2912 Dauphin Island Parkway.

Dortch was scheduled for a court appearance Wednesday, according to jail records.

The robbery at Domino’s Pizza is one of dozens of robberies police are investigating that have occurred at businesses and homes across the city during the last couple of months.

Police arrested Dortch about 9:30 a.m. in the 900 block of Tanglewood Drive. Police said in a statement that a resident called police with a tip that led to Dortch’s arrest. He was home when police picked him up, Chief Michael T. Williams said.

“Dortch told the detective that he had been suspended since October for an incident on campus,” Williams said.

Mobile County public school officials on Monday afternoon could not find a record of Dortch, a senior at Williamson, being suspended, according to school system spokeswoman Nancy Pierce.

“This young man went into this store to rob it, and things went downhill, and he ended up shooting this kid and killing him,” Williams said.

“It’s unfortunate in a lot of ways,” Williams said. “We end up losing a 21-year-old who was out there working and trying to make a living for himself. And then on the other side, we lose an 18-year-old who will be charged with capital murder.

“This is a case where we have the right man,” he said.

Williams said the suspect identified the type of gun used in the shooting, and the police were attempting to retrieve it Monday afternoon.

“It’s my understanding that according to him, it was accidental,” Williams said. “He didn’t mean to shoot the guy. But sometimes that is what they tell us to try to get us to minimize it.”

Williams said police will try to determine if Dortch will be charged with any other robberies.

Domino’s Pizza officials offered a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in the robbery.

“The detectives and the people who put up the reward will have to determine how that’s to be resolved,” Williams said.

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Jury gets Michael Woolf case; defendant accused of shooting wife, 2-year-old son

Published: Monday, November 01, 2010, 7:00 PM

MOBILE, Ala. -- Michael Woolf wouldn’t believe his wife’s assurances or a paternity test showing that their toddler was his biological son — thoughts that grew into an obsession, a prosecutor said Monday.

“And so he took care of the situation,” said Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Jo Beth Murphree.

Woolf’s wife and son — Angel and Ayden Woolf — were found shot to death inside their trailer home off Schillinger Road just after midnight, March 5, 2008.

Michael Woolf called 911 to report the shootings, even telling a dispatcher that he’d just killed his family and needed to go to jail, according to testimony.

On Monday, a jury began deliberating capital murder charges against Woolf after more than five days of testimony. After 2? hours, the jury decided to stop and continue again today.

Prosecutors said Woolf questioned whether the boy was his own after learning of his wife’s extramarital affairs, and the boy became an extension of his wife’s betrayal.

Woolf testified in his own defense that he accidentally shot his son during a fight with his wife, then fired a shot at her. The defense has argued he killed his wife in a heat of passion crime, which would constitute the lesser charge of manslaughter.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Greg Evans said Woolf never intended to kill his family — and he argued that the prosecution did not prove otherwise.

“The only person that knows what went on there that night is Michael, and he told you from the witness stand what happened,” Evans said.

Woolf showed little emotion while testifying last week that he was fighting with his wife when he fired a shot behind him to scare her. He said he heard his wife scream, turned around, and saw his young son was struck.

Woolf did not explain on the witness stand why he turned back to his wife and fired a shot at her.

Evans pointed to a psychologist’s testimony that Woolf has an “extremely low IQ,” bipolar disorder and a history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance abuse.

He said the defense has brought the “unvarnished truth” in the case, including that despite his problems, Woolf still understood the difference between right and wrong. The defense withdrew a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or mental defect before the jury heard closing arguments.

Murphree told jurors that Woolf is a “self-centered misogynist” with “a very easy temper to trigger.”

“Did he kill Angel first?” she said. “Did he kill Ayden first? Did Angel have to have those few horrible moments of seeing her son shot? Or did Ayden have to see mama be shot?”

Murphree said while it can difficult to believe that a parent would kill his own child, that’s what happened at the Woolf home that night.

“Sometimes the boogie man is not just the shadowy figure across the street,” Murphree said. “Sometimes the boogie man is your own dad.”

The trial is being held in Mobile County Circuit Joseph Johnston’s courtroom.

If the jury finds Woolf guilty of capital murder, the panel would then have to recommend life in prison without parole or the death penalty as punishment.?

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