Prichard Man Arrested, Charged with Murder in Death of 19-Year-Old
A 21-year-old Mobile man was arrested and charged with murder after a Prichard teenager's body was found in an open field earlier in the week.
A Mobile man is behind bars, accused of murder in the shooting death of a 19-year-old whose body was discovered days earlier in an open field in Prichard.
Prichard police arrested 21-year-old Kendrick McMillian on a murder charge tied to the death of James TaMichael Simpson, according to Prichard Chief of Staff Philip Stiell. Simpson’s body had been found the preceding Saturday morning, setting off a homicide investigation that culminated in McMillian’s arrest days later.
McMillian was booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail early in the afternoon. Stiell credited residents for helping investigators build the case, saying the arrest came about “through the cooperation of the citizens of Prichard and the police department.”
“Our citizens are finally saying enough,” Stiell said, adding that the department would continue to lean on tips from the community to solve violent crimes. “We continue to ask them to step forward with these and any other crimes and things of that sort that go on in the city.”
Court and jail records show McMillian had faced other charges earlier in the year, including loitering for the purpose of drug activity, possession of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
No additional details about a motive or the relationship, if any, between McMillian and Simpson were released as the investigation continued.
What happens next
Murder is a Class A felony in Alabama. Felony cases in Mobile County typically begin in district court, where a judge can hold a preliminary hearing to decide whether there is probable cause, before the case goes to a grand jury. If the grand jury returns an indictment, the case moves to circuit court for trial.
