On June 2, 2018, the bodies of 28-year-old Cortez Antonio ’Tony’ Dees and 25-year-old Luman Williams, both from Evergreen, were found in a wooded area along Dilly Hill Road in the Garland community of Butler County, Alabama. A passerby discovered the men at about 3:50 p.m. and alerted the Butler County Sheriff’s Office; investigators determined both had been fatally shot. Around the same time, a gray 2018 Audi was reported ablaze on Tram Road near the Interstate 65 exit in Georgiana. The Audi was later identified as belonging to one of the victims, linking the vehicle fire to the killings.

In the fall of 2018 law enforcement arrested four people from Birmingham in connection with the double homicide: 31-year-old Courtney Andrews, 18-year-old Kaia Fortune, 29-year-old Nathaniel Anthony Fortune, and 35-year-old Jonathan Leonard Willis. Each faced four counts of capital murder and one count of tampering with evidence; Andrews was also charged with making a false statement.

If anyone knew Cortez Dees or has information about what happened in Butler County that day, please come forward and share what you know.