UPDATE: 15-year-old charged in Dadeville mass shooting to be tried as an adult

Sherman Peters III – Photo from Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office

Action 8 News has confirmed that a 15-year-old who was charged in the Dadeville mass shooting earlier this year will be tried as an adult.

District Attorney Mike Segrest said the teenager, identified as Sherman Peters III, who is the sixth suspect in the case, was originally charged as a juvenile as required by law. He filed a motion asking the juvenile court to transfer him to the Tallapoosa County Circuit Court to be tried as  an adult.

A hearing was held in July, and Tuesday, Juvenile Court Judge Kim Taylor ordered Peters transferred to the circuit court to be tried as an adult.

Court records show Peters is charged with four counts of reckless murder, 24 counts of 1st degree assault and one count of 2nd degree assault.

Segrest anticipates the next step in the prosecution of this case will be an Aniah’s Law hearing. After that, the case will  be bound over to be presented to the grand jury. 

Investigators outside the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in Dadeville on Sunday, April 16, 2023 – Photo from WAKA 8

The shooting left four people dead and 32 others injured. It happened Saturday night, April 15, at a girl’s Sweet 16 birthday party at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in downtown Dadeville. A state investigator said 89 shell casings from four types of handguns were recovered at the scene, and evidence indicates at least one of the handguns had been altered for rapid fire.

The other five suspects have been indicted. They include 20-year-old Johnny Brown of Tuskegee, and 19-year-old Willie Brown Jr., of Auburn, who are cousins — as well as 20-year-old Wilson Hill Jr., of Auburn. The other two suspects indicted are juveniles and are 16 and 17 years old.

They face a 145-count indictment. That includes four counts of reckless murder for each of them, 24 counts of first-degree assault for the 24 people who suffered penetrating gunshot wounds as well as one count of third-degree assault for the one person with a superficial gunshot wound.

If convicted, each suspect faces from 20 years to life in prison for each fatality as well as 10 to 20 years on the assault counts.