An Alabama State University student is charged with the murder of fellow ASU student Adam Dowdell, 22.
Ivry Hall, 20, was taken into custody on Friday and booked into the Montgomery County Detention Facility. Bond was set at $250,000.
Dowdell’s body was found behind a church not far from the ASU campus at about 2:45 p.m. Monday. According to a press release by the Montgomery Police Department, Dowdell was shot to death.
He was last seen on Sept. 8 as he left his dorm room with a friend to go to an ATM machine. He was reported missing the following day.
Hall, a native of Chicago, overcame incredible odds to become valedictorian of his high school graduating class. Despite the double tragedies he endured — losing both of his parents before age 16 — he excelled at boxing and was a dedicated student.
Dowdell’s mom, Toya Cohill, and a cousin identified Hall as the friend who accompanied Dowdell to an ATM machine before he went missing.
Cohill posted photos of her son and Hall on Facebook late Wednesday. She wrote in all caps: “THEY GOT HIM!!… THANK YOU JESUS… WHEN I TELL Y’ALL GOD IS AWESOME!! HE IS AWESOME!! JUSTICE FOR ADAM DOWDELL AKA BELLE… I WON’T MISS A COURT DATE!”
Cohill didn’t go into any specifics, but a cousin revealed more information in the comments section of a YouTube video posted by a crime blogger on Thursday.
A user named “Yazmine” wrote: “They have phone records that prove that he had intentions on hurting my cousin… phone records have proven a lot more than we knew. Stay tuned!”
She added:
“We are hurting BADLY! We have so many questions, and we are angry. This young man took his life for no reason, then fled out of state. That screams GUILT all day! You’d think that all that he experienced in Chicago, he would make better decisions being that he’s trying to be an influencer. This is not what a good influence does. Only a cold-hearted person would do this!”
When Cohill learned her son was missing, she and family members drove an hour from Alabaster and remained in Montgomery until her son was found.
“I didn’t realize my child was two blocks away from me on the ground,” Cohill said at a candlelight vigil for Dowdell Thursday night.
She warned the crowd of 200 mourners to be wary of the people in their circle.
“Make sure the person you call your friend is really your friend,” Cohill said. “Be cautious on who you call your friend. Everybody that smiles in your face is not your friend. That goes for friends, family, your next-door neighbors, your roommates.
“You have to limit yourself, limit the people who know your A to your Z,” she said.
Cohill cautioned the crowd to turn on their location on their phones.
“Stay focused on where you’re at when you go somewhere. It’s hard for people to keep up with you when you don’t turn your location on,” Cohill said. “Your parents aren’t trying to run your business. They’re just trying to keep up with you.”
She said her son didn’t turn off his location. “They turned it off. I know this for a fact, my child didn’t go down without a fight.”
“It wasn’t right how they did my baby,” Cohill said. I don’t want this to happen to my worst enemy. I just want justice for my baby.”
