Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – Trial Day 1
The murder trial of Lazarrell Dewayne Fennell opened Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court with hours of testimony, surveillance evidence and a lengthy interrogation video that prosecutors say points to a calculated act of violence fueled by anger, jealousy and an inability to let go of a failed relationship. Defense attorneys, however, argued the state’s case is built entirely on assumptions and circumstantial evidence with no direct proof identifying Fennell as the shooter.
Fennell, age 42, is charged with murder in the March 31, 2024 shooting death of Deuntae Jarrod Johnson outside Warehouse 207 in Scottsboro. Authorities allege Johnson, age 31, was shot multiple times while sitting inside a black Nissan Altima in the rear parking lot of the popular downtown venue during the early morning hours of Easter Sunday.
The courtroom remained full throughout the day as family members, friends and members of the public listened closely while prosecutors laid out a timeline they say began years earlier with the deterioration of Fennell’s relationship with his wife, JameelaEl-Ameen.
Assistant District Attorney Krystina Jackson opened the state’s case by telling jurors the shooting was not a sudden act but the culmination of countless decisions and moments that eventually collided outside Warehouse 207.
“Our lives are made up of moments,” Jackson told the jury. “The bulk of them are small and seem insignificant, but strung together they become meaningful.”
Jackson argued those moments ultimately led to the deadly shooting just after 1 a.m. on March 31, 2024.
According to prosecutors, Johnson entered his vehicle at approximately 1:17 a.m. One minute later, Jackson said, “one of those big moments occurred.”
Jackson described what jurors would later see on surveillance footage from the parking lot, telling them Johnson could be seen desperately attempting to escape after gunfire erupted.
“You’ll see evidence of Deuntae trying to get away from the bullets being fired into his body,” Jackson said. “He tries to exit and eventually escapes through the passenger door of the vehicle he had just entered.”
Jackson said the footage shows Johnson, wearing a white sweatshirt, fleeing from the vehicle before collapsing from his wounds.
“You’ll see Deuntae, riddled with bullets, his white sweatshirt becoming red as blood soaks through from his wounds,” she told jurors.
Although prosecutors acknowledged the surveillance footage does not clearly identify the shooter because of the darkness, Jackson argued the evidence surrounding the shooting, combined with statements made by Fennell, would establish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Much of the prosecution’s opening statement centered on Fennell’s relationship with Jameela El-Ameen, whom prosecutors described as his wife and longtime partner dating back to their teenage years. According to Jackson, the relationship deteriorated over time despite the couple sharing children together.
“They, like all marriages, had their problems, but those problems grew,” Jackson said. “Finally, his wife Jameela found her breaking point.”
Jackson told jurors that while Fennell was serving 90 days in jail in Whitfield County, Georgia, Jameela finally decided to leave the relationship and move on. Prosecutors alleged that during that time she began seeing Johnson.
“For the first time since the age of 17 someone finally shows her attention and appreciation,” Jackson said.
According to the prosecution, prior to being released from jail on March 29, 2024, Fennell learned Jameela was seeing someone else and became enraged.
“She tells him she’s leaving and moving on,” Jackson said. “She tells him she’s seeing someone new, but the defendant can’t let that happen. No one is going to stand in his way.”
Jackson concluded her opening by reminding jurors, “There are no small insignificant moments. All of our choices are important.”
Defense attorney Jennifer Lackey immediately pushed back against the state’s narrative during opening statements, arguing prosecutors were asking jurors to assume Fennell committed the crime without producing direct evidence.
“The scariest client is an innocent client,” Lackey told jurors.
Lackey acknowledged Johnson was murdered but repeatedly emphasized what she described as serious gaps in the prosecution’s case.
“A man was murdered, and there is plenty of doubt,” she said. “But remember these words: ‘Where is it? Where is the evidence?’”
The defense stressed repeatedly that Fennell enters trial presumed innocent and that the state alone carries the burden of proof.
“There is no direct evidence, no eyewitnesses, no confession, no weapon, no DNA, no fingerprints,” Lackey argued. “All the evidence is circumstantial. It’s all possibilities, not proof.”
Lackey warned jurors not to allow prosecutors to convince them to “fill in the blanks” themselves.
“The State will present pieces and ask you to fill in the blanks,” she said. “When a man’s freedom is hanging on this, those assumptions must be airtight.”
She also questioned whether investigators focused too heavily on Fennell from the beginning while ignoring other possibilities.
“Did law enforcement follow all leads or pick him and fail to do a thorough investigation?” Lackey asked jurors.
The state’s first witness Tuesday was Audrey Tomlin, who testified she was at Warehouse 207 the night of the shooting with a group of friends. Tomlin said she arrived around 9 p.m. and remained there throughout the evening. She testified she did not know either Johnson or Fennell before the shooting.
Tomlin explained she was serving as the designated driver that night and consumed less than one alcoholic drink during the evening. Near closing time, she returned to her truck while her friends inside went to use the restroom before leaving. Her truck was backed into a parking space facing the patio area behind Warehouse 207.
While waiting in the vehicle, Tomlin testified she observed a person dressed in dark clothing walking from the direction of Laurel Street toward the driver’s side of a black car parked nearby.
Moments later, gunfire erupted.
Tomlin told jurors she then saw Johnson climb through the passenger side door and attempt to run toward the patio area before collapsing. She testified she could not identify the shooter because she only saw a dark silhouette in the nighttime conditions. After the shooting, she said she observed the shooter running back toward Laurel Street.
The final witness of the day was Zackie Gant with the Scottsboro Police Department, who spent several hours walking jurors through the investigation, evidence collection and eventual arrest of Fennell.
Gant testified he received a call regarding the shooting at approximately 1:31 a.m. and responded to Warehouse 207 where patrol officers had already secured the scene with yellow crime scene tape.
According to Gant, the black Nissan Altima involved in the shooting had extensive bullet holes and shattered glass along the driver’s side. Prosecutors introduced numerous photographs into evidence showing the damaged vehicle, blood-stained gravel in the parking lot, the patio area behind Warehouse 207 and the wall where Johnson collapsed after fleeing the vehicle.
Gant testified Johnson had already been transported from the scene by paramedics before he arrived.
Jurors were also shown surveillance footage from the parking lot. Gant testified the black-and-white video showed a silhouette approaching the vehicle followed by flashes of light consistent with gunfire. According to Gant, the footage then showed Johnson fleeing the vehicle while his white sweatshirt gradually darkened from blood caused by his wounds.
Investigators testified Johnson had been shot with a .45 caliber firearm. The state also introduced records showing the black Nissan Altima was jointly registered to Fennell and Jameela El-Ameen.
The jury then heard testimony regarding how investigators located Fennell later that same morning.
According to Gant, Scottsboro investigators received information suggesting Fennell could be in the Guntersville area near where his father lived. Investigators contacted the Guntersville Police Department, and Fennell was eventually stopped while driving a blue 2014 Ford Fusion.
Gant testified Fennell agreed to speak with investigators after being read his rights.
According to investigators, Fennell claimed he had left the Meridianville home of his other wife, Amanda Reed, and was traveling toward Scottsboro when his brother called warning him not to come because police were “stopping everyone” after a fight at a local club.
Fennell denied having a firearm, denied knowing Johnson and claimed he had only distant family connections in the Guntersville area.
With permission to search the vehicle, investigators located damp boots and grass in the trunk of the Ford Fusion. Jurors were also shown a photograph of Fennell standing beside the vehicle wearing what appeared to be a black shirt and coveralls.
A major portion of the afternoon focused on approximately two hours of interrogation footage shown to jurors involving Gant, Scottsboro investigator Chris McIllwain and Fennell.
Before the interrogation video began, courtroom tension briefly eased when a member of the defense team’s cellphone accidentally connected to the courtroom Bluetooth system and unexpectedly began playing dog food commercials, drawing laughter.
During the interrogation, Fennell repeatedly discussed his anger regarding Jameela and Johnson’s relationship.
At several points in the recording, Fennell stated Jameela “pissed me off.” He admitted telling a cousin, “Tell that [expletive] he better stay away from my wife.” He also acknowledged telling Jameela, “You think when I get out you’re going to run around?”
Fennell explained to investigators that he had been released from a Georgia jail on the Friday before the shooting and that Amanda Reed picked him up before they traveled through Chattanooga to Meridianville. He stated the couple remained home on Saturday aside from a trip to Taco Mama.
According to Fennell, he decided around 1:30 a.m. to travel to Scottsboro to retrieve clothing and tools. He claimed he was traveling toward Guntersville when his brother called informing him “something went down” involving Jameela’s vehicle.
Jurors heard Fennell repeatedly say, “That’s my car,” while discussing the Nissan Altima. He also stated his brother later told him, “Dude got shot in her car.”
Investigators repeatedly challenged Fennell’s timeline and route of travel during the interrogation.
According to investigator McIllwain, surveillance cameras had captured the blue Ford Fusion in Scottsboro near the Red Roof Inn and Comfort Inn & Suites shortly before the shooting.
“That car you were stopped in is on video at Red Roof Inn and Comfort Inn in Scottsboro,” McIllwain told Fennell. “You were stalking him.”
McIllwain later attempted to persuade Fennell to tell investigators the truth.
“I’d be pissed too,” McIllwain said during the interrogation. “But at the same time, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I did this. This is your chance to do what’s right.”
Fennell calmly responded, “Okay,” but continued denying involvement throughout the interview. He repeatedly maintained he never entered Scottsboro that night and insisted investigators were wrong about the vehicle captured on surveillance footage.
At one point during the interrogation, investigators told Fennell they had spoken with family members who allegedly told them they “saw this coming.”
The interrogation video concluded with investigators informing Fennell his cellphone and vehicle would be seized before placing him under arrest for murder.
Defense attorney Brian White later cross-examined Gant and questioned whether investigators thoroughly examined Johnson’s friends and acquaintances as possible leads or suspects.
Gant testified he only knew Johnson from years earlier while serving on bike patrol. He also stated he did not believe those individuals were relevant to the investigation.
Testimony adjourned Tuesday afternoon. The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. in Jackson County Circuit Court.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2026 – Trial Day 2
The second day of testimony in the murder trial of Lazarrell Fennell brought hours of emotional and detailed testimony as prosecutors continued presenting evidence surrounding the March 31, 2024 shooting death of Deuntae Johnson outside Warehouse 207 in Scottsboro.
Jurors heard testimony from law enforcement officers, forensic experts, business owners and the defendant’s estranged wife as the State sought to establish the sequence of events leading up to the deadly shooting.
The day began with testimony from Scottsboro Police Department investigator Zac Randall, who detailed physical evidence collected from the crime scene and inside the victim’s vehicle. Randall testified investigators recovered numerous .45 caliber shell casings both inside and around the black Nissan Altima involved in the shooting. Jurors were shown crime scene photographs depicting blood spatter inside the vehicle, the victim’s shoe and a $20 bill located near the scene.
Randall testified officers also discovered an unloaded firearm without a magazine in the back pocket area of one of the seats. In the driver’s side door pocket, investigators located a .380 caliber magazine. Additional items recovered from the vehicle included fragmented bullets, another shoe and a cellphone. According to Randall, four spent bullets were recovered from inside the vehicle itself, adding to the extensive ballistic evidence collected during the investigation.
During cross-examination, defense attorney White questioned Randall regarding the firearm discovered in the vehicle. Randall acknowledged he personally did not examine or test the weapon recovered from the car.
The State next called Scottsboro Police Department officer Chris McIllwain, who testified he has served with the department for 19 years. McIllwain stated he responded to Highlands Medical Center the morning of the shooting to assist with security. He also testified that he took possession of a black stocking cap discovered in a grassy area near the crime scene and later turned the item over to investigators with the Scottsboro Police Department. Defense attorneys declined to cross-examine McIllwain.
One of the most graphic portions of the day came during testimony from Valerie Green of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences pathology division. Green, who testified she has worked in forensic pathology for approximately 18 years, conducted the autopsy on Johnson and told jurors the victim died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Using autopsy photographs presented to the jury, Green carefully described each wound and the path of the bullets through the victim’s body. She testified one bullet entered through the left shoulder area and traveled downward before lodging near the left collarbone. Another gunshot entered through the back of the right arm, fracturing the humerus before lodging in soft tissue.
Green further testified the victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right thigh that resulted in both entrance and exit wounds. Another bullet entered through the buttocks area and lodged in the victim’s right pelvis. The most severe wound, according to Green, entered through the left middle back, fracturing the sixth rib and traveling through the lower lung, right atrium, right ventricle and pulmonary artery before lodging in the center of the chest cavity.
Green testified approximately 1,200 milliliters of blood accumulated in the chest cavity from that wound alone. In total, she testified the victim suffered five separate gunshot wounds. During the autopsy, investigators recovered four bullets and one bullet fragment from the victim’s body. Defense attorneys declined cross-examination following Green’s testimony.
Outside the presence of the jury, attorneys spent considerable time arguing over whether the defendant’s estranged wife, Jameela El-Amean, could be compelled to testify. Defense attorneys argued the couple had entered into either a valid common law marriage or a religious marriage recognized under Islamic faith traditions, which they claimed entitled the defendant to spousal privilege protections.
Prosecutors countered that any alleged common law relationship would have originated in Georgia, which abolished recognition of new common law marriages after January 1, 1997. Prosecutors further argued the witness herself had testified the couple was not legally married under state law.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge ruled no valid common law marriage existed and determined the religious marriage ceremony described by the witness was insufficient to establish marital privilege under Alabama law. Defense attorneys strongly objected to the ruling, with one attorney stating on the record that he believed the decision constituted “reversible error.”
The State then called Damon Cooper of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences firearms division. Cooper testified that ballistic evidence recovered during the investigation indicated bullets were fired from either a Versa or Glock-style firearm.
Jurors also heard testimony from Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office deputy Cody Sharp of Dalton, Georgia. Sharp testified regarding an August 31, 2024 incident involving threats allegedly made by the defendant toward both law enforcement officers and members of Jameela El-Amean’s family.
Sharp testified he responded to a call concerning threats made toward Jameela El-Amean while the defendant was reportedly in Tennessee. After reviewing text messages exchanged between the parties, Sharp prepared a supplemental report connected to the investigation. Sharp testified the defendant later called a family member’s phone, which Sharp answered. According to Sharp, the conversation quickly escalated.
“He was aggressive, screaming threats,” Sharp testified, stating the defendant allegedly threatened to “shoot at” law enforcement officers while also making racial comments during the approximately three-minute call. Sharp testified additional officers were present during the incident and law enforcement took precautionary steps afterward, including notifying supervisors and family members connected to the case.
Much of the afternoon focused on testimony from Jameela El-Amean herself, who provided jurors with extensive details regarding her relationship with the defendant and events leading up to the shooting. She testified she met the defendant in March 2006 at a place of worship where her father held a leadership position. Approximately one month later, the two participated in an Islamic religious marriage ceremony, though the marriage was never legally recorded with the state.
She testified the couple later moved to Alabama in 2011 and lived together while raising children. According to her testimony, problems within the relationship intensified in 2023 after the defendant informed her he intended to marry another woman.
Jameela El-Amean testified she attempted to leave the relationship and began searching for an apartment. She alleged the defendant became physically abusive after learning she intended to leave and made repeated threats to kill her. She testified he stalked her, followed her in vehicles and at one point fired a shotgun into the air near her head.
She further described an incident in which she had temporarily gone to stay with family members. According to her testimony, the defendant contacted her claiming he had accidentally left a work computer in the trunk of her vehicle. When she went outside to check, she testified the defendant approached her from behind wearing a mask and black gloves before physically forcing her back to Alabama.
Jurors also listened to a recorded phone call prosecutors allege were made by the defendant. During the recordings, the caller could allegedly be heard yelling profanities and threatening violence. Statements played in court included, “Anybody mess with me, you’ll die,” and “I’m not playing with you.” Another statement heard on the recordings included, “I’m going to show your ass some stuff. This is to the graveyard.”
Jameela El-Amean testified she eventually sought a protection-from-abuse order because she feared for her safety. She stated the defendant was arrested in Dalton, Georgia in late 2023, and afterward she moved into an apartment and began attempting to rebuild her life independently.
She testified she later met Deuntae Johnson through Facebook and began dating him in early 2024. According to her testimony, it was the first romantic relationship she had entered since she was 17 years old.
She told jurors the defendant became upset after learning about her relationship with Johnson. She also testified she owned the black Nissan Altima involved in the shooting and possessed a .380 caliber firearm she originally received from the defendant. According to her testimony, she gave that firearm to Johnson on the night of the shooting.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Jennifer Lackey questioned El-Amean extensively regarding dates of alleged threats and the timeline of her relationship with Fennell. She acknowledged she recorded some conversations with the defendant because she believed he had been threatening her for an extended period of time.
The State later called numerous witnesses connected to surveillance video footage gathered during the investigation. Jimmy Coble, owner of Warehouse 207, testified the business maintained multiple surveillance cameras throughout the property. He explained recordings were stored on a password-protected DVR system located in the office. Coble testified the time stamp on the footage was off by approximately one hour at the time of the shooting.
Defense attorneys questioned Coble regarding investigators obtaining video from inside the business, and Coble acknowledged he knew the victim personally.
Additional witnesses authenticated surveillance footage from several businesses and locations throughout Scottsboro, including the Scottsboro-Jackson Heritage Center, Comfort Inn and Suites, Holland Family Dentistry, CTS Excavations and Scottsboro City Hall. Witnesses consistently testified the footage had not been altered prior to investigators retrieving it, and that the camera systems were secure and password protected.
Comfort Inn and Suites general manager Michelle Venable testified she was at work the morning of March 31 when a blue vehicle with an obscured license plate rapidly drove through the parking lot. Defense attorneys later emphasized during cross-examination that the tag appeared intentionally covered or obscured.
Scottsboro Police Department investigator Ryan Putman testified he later located a firearm inside Amanda Reed’s purse during the investigation, though he did not locate a .45 caliber weapon. Putman also testified he downloaded surveillance footage from Pilgrim’s Pride and turned it over to investigator Zackie Gant.
Additional testimony was presented from IT personnel and business representatives who verified surveillance footage and explained minor time discrepancies between various camera systems used during the investigation.
The trial is expected to continue tomorrow with additional witness testimony.
