Mobile man pleads guilty to nightclub killing in murder-for-hire plot

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - An admitted hitman pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to kill a man for money – a guilty plea that will trigger a possible life prison sentence.

Reginald Dennis Allen Fluker’s guilty plea to the federal murder-for-hire conspiracy charge, and the accompanying written plea agreement, sheds new light on the connections between a pair of nightclub shootings in 2022 that wounded five people and claimed the life on an innocent man in a case of mistaken identity.

Fluker, 24, of Mobile, made no comments other than to answer “yes” or “no” questions in a soft voice. He admitted that he agreed to kill a man for co-defendant John Fitzgerald “Juvie” McCarroll Jr. Fluker’s plea agreement refers to the intended target as “Person-1.” But in testimony last year in state court, a Mobile police detective identified the intended victim.

Fluker thought he was shooting “Person-1,” but according to Mobile police, it was a man named Derrick Shavers – Day Day to his friends and family – who had gone to the club after work and had nothing to do with the dispute between McCarroll and the intended target. He died about three weeks later; another person suffered a serious gunshot wound, according to the plea agreement.

“We got what we want,” Shavers’ father, Derrick Smith, said outside the courthouse. “We got a guilty plea. And he’s gonna spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Added the victim’s sister, Siera Gray: “It’s hard, but I’m glad we got justice for Day Day – ‘cause didn’t serve it.”

Fluker is the first person named in the federal indictment to plead guilty. An attorney for McCarroll, the defendant accused of setting up the shootings, declined to comment Tuesday. ChaLea Tisdale, an attorney who represents co-defendant Darrius Dwayne Rowser – who is accused of carrying out a second nightclub shooting – disputed Fluker’s account.

“My client maintains his innocence, and we will continue to work toward exoneration,” she told FOX10 News.

Read full Reginald Fluker plea agreement here:

Fluker and McCarroll went to the Bank Nightlife club on Azalea Road on September 18, 2022, according to the federal plea agreement. The plea document states that Fluker used a .40-caliber pistol that McCarroll gave him to fire several times into the VIP section of the club at about 2:25 a.m.

Smith said his son was not involved in any activity that should have put his life in danger.

“He’d never harmed anybody,” he said. He was the last person you would think to be shot like that. ... “It’s been rough. That’s my only son.”

The plea document states that Fluker expected to receive $10,000 to $20,000, but because Fluker shot the wrong man, he got a smaller amount of money and favors from McCarroll and his associates.

Two months after the Bank Nightlife shooting, four people suffered injuries when shots rang out at the Paparazzi Lounge on Dauphin Street. According to Fluker’s plea agreement, that shooting was another unsuccessful attempt to murder the man McCarroll was trying to kill.

The plea document cites Facebook messages in which McCarroll tried to entice Fluker to shoot the man during a high school class reunion at the club on Nov. 25, 2022.

“U wonna [sic] make that change on that other thing coming up or you don’t wonna f with dat,” McCarroll wrote 10 days before the date of the reunion, according to the plea agreement.

When Fluker expressed interest, McCaroll wrote, “class reunion ... Imma hit u we gone talk.”

McCaroll followed up six days later: “That thing this Friday coming up after thanks giving is you gone make this money for the holidays or what if yeen gone be feeling hundred % don’t waste no time.”

Fluker did not go through with the shooting. According to his plea agreement, McCarroll turned to co-defendant Darius Dwayne Rowser. Surveillance footage shows both men arriving at the club after midnight on Nov. 26, 2022. The two exchanged several text messages.

“Bra I just missed this man again bra he was in the bathroom wit me,” Rowser wrote in one message, according to court records.

He added: “Give me my gun bra.”

Prosecutors alleged that Rowser fired a .45-caliber pistol into a crowd of people inside the club, injuring five people.

U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer will formally sentence Fluker on Oct. 3. The offense carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. However, Fluker’s plea agreement contains the possibility of a sentencing break if he provides “substantial assistance” to prosecutors. That would be up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine, but if prosecutors agree that a defendant has met those criteria, the judge has discretion to impose a penalty less than the mandatory-minimum prison term.

Defense attorney Gordon Armstrong said he hopes his client gets some consideration by taking responsibility before the other defendants.

“Certainly, it’s something we would argue with the judge. ... Everything will come out at the sentencing, so right now, it’s too early to be talking about what are all the things that might happen,” he told FOX10 News.

There is no parole in the federal system, which means that if Fluker does get life, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office also told FOX10 News that it has no plans to back off the state court case, which remains pending before a grand jury.

Updated at 4:45 p.m. to include comments from the victim’s family and defense attorney Gordon Armstrong.

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