Arrests made in Dekalb shooting

Thursday, March 31, 2011

photo Shawn Ray Willis
photo Jennifer Noel Lawson

DeKalb County authorities arrested a man and a woman Wednesday in connection with a shooting that caused a man to wreck his car on the way to the hospital.

Police followed a tip and found Shawn Ray Willis and Jennifer Noel Lawson walking down County Road 165 on Lookout Mountain and arrested the couple, DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike Edmondson said.

Both suspects were taken to the DeKalb County Jail for questioning, but no charges had been issued as of late Wednesday, Edmondson said.

Local and state police spent two days hunting for the couple after they became suspects in the Monday shooting of Jeffery Steven Williams, police said.

Williams was found Monday afternoon inside his wrecked car with a gunshot wound in his arm, sheriff's office spokeswoman Stanna Guice said. Police believe he was trying to drive himself to the hospital when he veered off the road just outside the Fort Payne city limits.

Williams was shot with a handgun about two miles from the scene of his car accident, but Edmondson didn't know if he was shot while he was driving.

Authorities said Williams is in serious condition at Huntsville Hospital but continuing to improve.

Willis and Williams knew each other, but their relationship hasn't been clarified yet, Edmondson said.

Police believe Lawson is dating Williams and was with him when the shooting occurred.

When officers from Desoto State Park found Willis and Lawson, they were near the Alpine Bridge, which is about two miles from where agents found their vehicle on Tuesday, Guice said.

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