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DOTAN, Ala. (WTVY) – A Dothan attorney has arranged for teenage murder suspect Mekhi Lawton to surrender following Saturday’s deadly Peanut Festival parade shooting.
Adam Parker confirmed to News 4 that Lawton’s family has retained him on charges of murder and first degree assault.
Lawton, 18, turned himself into police hours after the shooting.
RELATED: Parade shooting suspect in custody
Investigators allege 22-year-old Garion killed Tyrone Fluellen and wounded another man, who has not been publicly identified. The second victim will recover.
Police say the shooting occurred during a confrontation, but have not released further details about the disturbance.
Parker, a former prosecutor, said he is reviewing the case but believes he doesn’t know all the facts.
“I am working to find corroborative evidence on this unfortunate matter,” he told News 4.
In a terrifying scene, paradegoers ran for cover as gunfire erupted along the route where tens of thousands of people had gathered for the festival’s signature event.
Related: Analysis of the Peanut Parade shooting
As the final parade entrants passed by, the police, who had been dealing with the rigors of crowd control, swung into action.
“This is the most chaotic scene I have ever been involved in,” Dothan Police Maj. Will Glover wrote on his Facebook page. “I couldn’t be (more) proud of the officers and investigators I work with every day.”
He dismissed social media posts criticizing the police’s handling of the incident.
“We hire everybody who says (officers in the field) can do something different. Put in an app, get off the keyboard,” Major Glover posted.
Security has been tightened at the fair ground, which is kilometers away from the shooting site.
Addendum: Security beefed up at festival after shooting
The festival concluded on Sunday without further untoward incident.
Lawton is being held on $1.53 million bond, but Parker will likely request that amount be reduced.
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