2 teens arrested in connection with Valley, Lanett kidnapping and shooting

Published 1:43 pm Wednesday, May 4, 2022

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Two kidnapping suspects have been arrested following an April incident in Chambers County. According to a press release from the Lanett Police Department, on April 13, both the LPD and Valley Police Department responded to a kidnapping call and a subject who had been shot.

According to the release, the events began in the 2900 block of 20th Avenue in Valley, where a female subject was pulled into a vehicle against her will. Her male associates feared for her safety and attempted to follow the suspect’s vehicle. Both parties continued to the I85 rest area between exit 79 and exit 77, where a male subject exited the suspect vehicle and fired a handgun into the vehicle that followed them.

A male subject sustained a single gunshot wound during the confrontation. The shooter then reentered the suspect’s vehicle, which fled the rest area, the press release said.

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The second driver continued to follow the suspects despite his injury. The suspect’s vehicle was followed to the intersection of Chambers County Road 388 and U.S. Highway 29, where patrol units made police contact from Valley and Lanett Police Departments.

The release said one suspect remained on the scene, and a second suspect fled on foot into a neighboring wooded area. Officers located the male subject who had been shot and the female subject who had been forced into the suspect’s vehicle with only minor injury. The East Alabama Fire District transported the gunshot victim for treatment of his injury.

Investigators from both agencies arrived on the scene and began to conduct a criminal investigation. Officers identified the male suspects as Jamarious Tyshawn Holley, 18, of Goodwater, and Gavin Jhysquese Blake, 18, of Dadeville. Further investigation was conducted by the Lanett Police Department Criminal Investigations Division, and arrest warrants were obtained for both suspects by the Lanett Police Department for attempted murder, kidnapping 2nd degree, and two counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle.

The Lanett Police Department requested the assistance of the United States Marshal Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in apprehending both subjects. On Wednesday, both subjects were taken into custody and charged.

The Lanett Police Department, along with Police Chief Johnny Wood, expressed appreciation to the Valley Police Department, Coosa County Sheriff’s Office, Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, Chambers County EMA, and The United States Marshal Service-Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force for their assistance in this investigation.

The investigation is ongoing, and no further information is available at this time.