The Montgomery Advertiser reported today that the Prattville Police Department released the victims’ names in Monday night’s brutal triple homicide at a local barbershop. The deceased victims are Eddie Dean Scott (58) and Anthony Smith (45), both of Autauga County, and Al Benson (50) of Elmore County, Alabama.
Marty Morgan, of Prattville, Alabama is the only identified suspect. He remains at large, and his accomplice has not been identified.
Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson said the triple murder appears to be a robbery attempt gone wrong, which happened late Monday night at the Hook-Up Barber and Style Shop. The three victims were apparently permitted inside the closed shop at 10:30 pm before the shooting started. Chief Thompson described the crime, saying:
Morgan is known to the people in the barber shop. He knocked on the door and was allowed to come inside. Our investigation shows he was with another man whose identity we don’t know at this time. Morgan was armed with a handgun and the other man was armed with a shotgun. One victim died in the business, another tried to escape and was allegedly hunted down by the shotgun-weilding suspect and shot at close range in the parking lot of a convenience store next door, and the third victim died on the way to the hospital.
Marty Morgan is approximately 6-feet, 145 pounds and Chief Thompson said he should be “considered armed and extremely dangerous.”
Reflecting on this heinous crime in a town that has very little of this sort of thing, Chief Assistant District Attorney C.J. Robinson told the Advertiser,
It’s going on all over the country, and we’ve just been fortunate it hasn’t happened in Prattville. We’ve pretty much been holding our breath. But, it’s happened now, and we are going to do everything we can to prosecute. And make sure the ones that committed this crime are prosecuted to the fullest. And hopefully they will get the maximum sentence in this case.
As Thompson added,
People need to realize that the brutality that took place during these homicides, these people that committed this crime, have no feelings, no remorse. They will hurt you just as quick as they hurt the people that they did murder in this case. If you know anything about it, you need to call us and let us know.
Thompson also told AL.com that federal marshals are helping in the search for the suspects and stressed the priority of the investigation:
We are executing search warrants in areas of Prattville and doing road blocks in another area of Prattville and we are taking this the next step. We’re going to be very aggressive with this case. We’re going to make a statement in this case. And Morgan needs to go ahead and turn himself in, and the others involved. It’s just a matter of time.
