More than three weeks after a Prichard man was gunned down outside a local convenience store, one of the suspects in his killing remained in custody on unrelated charges without yet facing charges directly tied to the homicide, according to Mobile County jail records.
Andrew Shane Herlong was found dead from two gunshot wounds at a convenience store between South Wasson and South Atmore avenues in Prichard just before 9 a.m. He was attacked while leaving the store, according to Philip Stiell, chief of staff for Prichard Mayor Troy Ephriam.
Investigators named Bovaire Dewayne Brown, 21, and Andelair Flanthac Bettis, 19, as persons of interest in the case less than two weeks after the shooting. Stiell later confirmed that both men were considered suspects. Brown was taken into custody days later, though not initially on charges related to Herlong’s death — he was booked into Mobile County Metro Jail on charges including attempting to elude police, resisting arrest and first-degree robbery.
According to a criminal complaint, Brown and Bettis were also accused of carjacking a person days after the homicide, with Bettis allegedly armed during that incident. A warrant was issued for Bettis’ arrest in connection with the robbery, though he remained at large along with two other unidentified individuals seen in surveillance footage from the convenience store. Investigators later said they no longer needed to interview one of the unidentified people captured on camera.
Police believe as many as four people may have been involved in the shooting itself. Shortly after officers arrived at the scene, they pursued a gray vehicle carrying the alleged suspects; that vehicle was later found abandoned on Tate Court, having been reported stolen out of Mobile.
Brown was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing related to the robbery case, even as the homicide investigation continued without formal charges filed in Herlong’s death. Prichard officials said the pace of the investigation reflected the complexity of piecing together evidence from multiple related crimes — the homicide, the carjacking and the vehicle theft — that investigators believe are connected to the same group of suspects.
Anyone with information on Bettis’ whereabouts was asked to contact Prichard police.