Eutaw Chief of Police, Tommy Johnson, held a press conference this morning to announce the death of Jaylen Carter (age 21) in a shooting, near 201 Howard Irvin Circle in Branch Heights, at 6:55 PM on Christmas Day. This was the first homicide of the year in the city.

Brandon Powell (28) was arrested and charged with capital murder and is currently in the Greene County jail.

Chief Johnson said, “Our investigation suggests that this death occurred as a result of a dispute over a lost firearm. Powell lost the 9mm handgun about two months ago at a fight at a club. Carter recovered the gun. The dispute on Christmas night started as a discussion between the two over this gun.”

“We must get these guns off our streets and get our children back in church. On Christmas day, we should be at with our families celebrating Christ’s birthday, not shooting and killing other people. There was a better way to solve this problem without violence and murder. Our people need to learn how to talk out our problems do not resort to shooting,” said Chief Johnson.

Yesterday, some persons connected with the Carter family called Eutaw City Hall, because two members of the Powell family work there, and made threats against those people, which is a crime.

Chief Johnson said he talked the situation over with Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson and agreed to close City Hall until after lunch on Wednesday, to give police time to check on the ‘alleged terrorist threats’ and arrest the responsible party or parties.

Chief Johnson said that he wanted to thank the Demopolis Police Department, 17th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation for their help in investigating the homicide.