From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
BIRMINGHAM — Four teenagers have been charged with the murder of a popular Ramsay High School senior.
The four, Jakobi Witherspoon, 18, Aja Whitt, 17, Jamaal Phillips, 17, along with a male juvenile whose identity will not be released, were arrested on Thursday and charged with murder and first-degree robbery in the Oct. 20 killing of 17-year-old Stanley Turner II, according to a report from Carol Robinson of al.com.
Witherspoon, Whitt and Phillips are all from Pleasant Grove.
“The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force took Witherspoon and the juvenile into custody around 10:15 a.m. at a house on 10th Street South. The other two suspects were arrested by Shelby County sheriff’s investigators at other locations,” Robinson reported.
The investigation was part of a multi-agency operation that included the Shelby County Coroner’s Office, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, the Pleasant Grove Police Department, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and School Resource Officers, Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, the Jefferson County Metro Area Crime Center, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a press release from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred at 1:46 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20, after sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a noise complaint at the Sonesta Extended Stay Suites on Greenhill Parkway in Shelby County. Once on the scene, the officers discovered the Birmingham teen unresponsive in a vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We are always saddened by the loss of life as a result of a violent crime, but even more so when that crime involves a teenager. Our hearts are with the friends and family of Stanley Turner II, and we hope these arrests give some comfort to the family,” Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said in the press release.
Witherspoon and Whitt are being held in the Shelby County Jail on $500,000 bond. Phillips has already been released on $500,000 bond.