By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An 18-year-old Atmore man was served warrants this week charging him in connection with the December 2024 shooting deaths of two Atmore men who were slain as they sat in their car along Ashley Street.
Adams is charged with the December 8 murders of 27-year-old Joe Jones Jr. and 25-year-old Juwan McNeal. The two Atmore men were shot to death as they reportedly smoked and listened to music inside the vehicle.
According to witnesses, their assailant came from behind an abandoned Ashley Street house and began firing indiscriminately into the vehicle. Official reports indicate that police recovered “around 20” shell casings in the vicinity of the car.
Once Atmore Police Department (APD) detectives got crime-lab confirmation of the evidence they collected, they didn’t have to look hard for their suspect.
Adams was already behind bars, one of six people charged with attempted murder and other felonies related to the May 7 firing of nearly four-dozen shots into and at a vehicle that was approaching the junction of North Main and Howard streets.
The 18-year-old learned he was also a double-murder defendant when APD investigators paid him a visit at the Escambia County Detention Center to formally serve the warrants.
Sgt. Darrell McMann said results of tests conducted by state crime lab technicians on evidence recovered at the shooting scene, along with documentation through online means, nailed the case shut.
“Adams was developed as a suspect through a combination of forensic evidence and digital evidence,” McMann said, adding that “additional arrests are possible” in the case.
Forensics, footwork
Police Chief Chuck Brooks agreed with McMann, adding that a combination of forensic evidence and patient investigation by city detectives, along with information picked up and passed on by patrol officers, led to the recent spate of arrests. More than a dozen suspects have been jailed in connection with several shootings that occurred over the past eight months.
“We’ve had quite a few arrests lately, and it’s due to a little bit of both,” Brooks said. “We’re finally getting some stuff back from the lab that confirms the evidence we had. The science part is finally coming through.
“Our investigators and patrol officers are out there, picking up shell casings, getting identifications and helping make these cases. I want to commend my entire staff. These arrests were due to great police work, with great science. I’m proud of them and the hard work they’ve done.”
Brooks, who constantly reminds residents that “if you see something, say something,” added that the public’s assistance was also a valuable part of the investigations that led to the recent arrests.
“That played a somewhat big part in it,” he said.
