On the night of June 16, 2023, in the Johnsonville community near Evergreen, Alabama, 31-year-old Jatonio Williams was fatally shot during a violent encounter. Deputies arrived after an 11:28 p.m. 911 call reporting a shooting on Boone Court and found Williams deceased from gunshot wounds.

A 10-year-old boy, Joseph JoeJoe Rankin, was also critically injured at the scene and was taken to Evergreen Medical Center, where he later died. Investigators say the deaths may have followed a home invasion interrupted when the victims arrived home. Authorities identified and later recovered a white 2009 GMC Yukon believed linked to the people responsible, but the primary suspects remain at large.

One arrest has been made: 27-year-old Vera Moorer was charged with second-degree kidnapping for allegedly taking an 8-year-old from the scene and leaving the child at a gas station; she was held on a $1 million bond. Anyone with information about the homicides or the suspects is asked to come forward.