FALKVILLE, Ala (WHNT) – “They are going to lock me up for the rest of my life,” was what the suspect charged with capital murder for the Sunday night shooting in Falkville said when he called 911, according to an affidavit.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) responded to a shooting call in the 50 block of Godwin Road Sunday at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
When deputies arrived, MCSO said they found one person dead and another suffering from a gunshot wound. A third victim with a gunshot wound had reportedly left the scene before deputies arrived and later showed up at the Falkville Town Hall/Police Department.
Joshua Lamar Knighten, 35, of Falkville was arrested and charged with capital murder following a fatal shooting Sunday night in Falkville. New details in the investigation have been revealed in court records.
Knighten was allegedly behind the trigger when and shot and killed Mitchell Ray Beard, 62 of Falkville while he was in a vehicle on the property on Godwin Road.
Court records show that deputies arrived on the scene to see one man standing in the yard, one male inside a vehicle, and one ‘sprawled out on the ground’. Records say another gunshot victim was also located at a house on the property.
The affidavit says the man laying on the ground told a deputy on the scene that, “he did not mean to,” and “one of his firearms was inside the residence behind me.”
Deputies reportedly detained both men who were found outside of the vehicle. Records say that deputies realized that the man in the vehicle, who was later identified as Beard, had multiple gunshot wounds.
Dispatch then advised officers a third victim had arrived at the Falkville Police Department, and both victims were transported to the hospital for treatment, according to the court documents.
Investigators on the scene identified the shooter as Knighten.
In the affidavit, dispatch later advised MCSO that Knighten was the one who had called 911 and that he stated, “they are going to lock me up for the rest of my life.”
Court records also show that when a deputy was driving Knighten to the Sheriff’s Office, he asked “how many lives did I end tonight?”.
Knighten is currently being held in the Morgan County Jail.
