Judge orders 14-year-old Dothan murder suspect must stand trial as adult

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - A judge certified a 14-year-old murder suspect as an adult on Wednesday, Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman confirmed to News 4.

Vincent Lamar Oliver, Jr. will be transferred to the Houston County Jail on two Capital Murder counts, and his trial will be public because of that ruling.

He had been held in youth lockup.

Dothan Police charged Oliver with last November’s shootings of Jasmine Danielle Bean and Ja’Lexius Lason Wells, 21 and 20, respectively.

Their bodies were found in a Fifth Avenue home the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

As officers hunted Oliver in the hours after those shootings, Houston County Circuit Judge Butch Binford allowed police to reveal his name, despite his age, because he believed the teen posed a significant public threat.

He was on the run for shooting into a vehicle and attempted assault charges.

After his arrest, his case became private because of his juvenile status, as Alabama law requires, and remained that way until Binford’s ruling on Wednesday.

Oliver would have been released from custody by his 21st birthday had he not been ruled an adult.

Because of his age, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty, but he could receive life without parole.

(This story updated to correct last victim’s last name as Bean)

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