ENTERPRISE, AL. (WDNews) – A Coffee County man entered a guilty plea on Monday to reckless homicide in the 2021 shooting death of 15-year-old MyQuell Smith, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Fredrick Wilder Jr., whose trial was scheduled to start that same day, pleaded before Enterprise Division Circuit Judge Shannon Clark. Smith’s parents were involved in and approved of the arrangement with the state that included the punishment.
Smith and his buddies, according to the prosecution, were trying to pull a practical joke on Wilder’s neighbor, another high school student. DeAndre Flowers, Wilder’s brother-in-law, thought their behavior was illegal, challenged them, and then drove them across the city at high speed. Smith was hit twice when Wilder stopped the pursuit and opened fire on the teen’s car close to Adams and Mack Street. Smith’s injuries caused his death.
District Attorney James Tarbox stated that there is no justification or justification for anyone to kill a group of kids who were merely trying to play a practical joke on their friend. He commended Smith’s family’s cooperation and the efforts of Assistant District Attorneys Ternisha Jones and Mary Katherine Head.
For his part in the incident, Flowers had earlier entered a guilty plea to manslaughter.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Enterprise Police Department, and Wiregrass Angel House all looked into the matter.
