Baldwin County officials said Tuesday that a planned drug deal led to the shooting deaths of two Seattle linemen in the Elberta area last week, and that a dead man’s dog and a sharp-eyed Mobile patrol officer provided the breaks leading to the arrest of a suspect now facing capital murder charges.
A Tuesday press conference also revealed that the suspect is a person of interest in a missing person case in Florida, involving a girlfriend who vanished in 2017.
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Andre Reid Jr., commander of the county’s Major Crimes Unit, said that when the bodies of two men were found before dawn Friday on an isolated stretch of road, the immediate challenge was to identify them. “We had nothing for hours, almost an entire day, before we even knew who our victims were,” he said.
But a dog that was on the scene, sticking close to the bodies, turned out to have identifying information on it. That lead to the previous owner, which helped unlock the mystery of who the current owner had been.
The two victims have since been identified as Joshua Carroll and Ryan Frazier. (The latter’s name also has been given as Fraizer; Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said that identifying documents had been inconsistent.)
On Tuesday, Reid said the picture that had emerged of the victims were that they were linemen who’d “kind of bounced around the Southeast” in recent months, installing cable.
They spent time in Pensacola but more recently had found work in Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. When Hurricane Delta threatened Louisiana, Reid said, they returned to Pensacola, arriving on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 8.
“They made it to Pensacola, met up with some co-workers, had a little bit of a discussion and actually decided to meet up with a drug associate,” Reid said. “That associate is who we’ve identified as Antwon Montrex Smith. During that meeting, Mr. Smith did not follow through with his end of the bargain and some violent encounter took place inside or around Mr. Frazier’s vehicle. Mr. Frazier and Mr. Carroll were both shot several times and left for dead on the side of County Road 95.”
Reid said investigators believe Smith drove around Baldwin County “for some time” before leaving the area and may have tried to destroy or dispose of some evidence, which they hope to recover.
With Frazier identified, investigators were able to alert other area agencies to be on the lookout for his missing vehicle. On Saturday afternoon, Mobile police spotted a vehicle matching the description and attempted to stop it. According to information provided by the Mobile Police Department, that led to a short pursuit in which the vehicle struck two others before hitting a brick retaining wall on Spring Hill Avenue and Michael Donald Avenue.
Smith, 36 was arrested. As of Tuesday he remained in Mobile County Metro Jail, charged with attempting to elude, carrying a pistol without a permit, drug possession and second degree marijuana possession. Jail records describe Smith as a Pensacola resident. Reid said drugs found in the vehicle included heroin.
“What’s significant about that arrest,” said Reid, “is that they seized a firearm, a 9mm firearm, they seized drugs, they seized cash, and of course recovered that stolen vehicle. Inside that stolen vehicle was a significant amount of blood, bloodstains, ammunition and other items of evidence … we actually also recovered Mr. Frazier’s wallet from Mr. Smith.”
Baldwin County District Attorney Robert Wilters said that the Major Crimes Unit’s response to the case had been “an awesome sight to watch,” with investigators from throughout the county working together.
“As has been mentioned before, Antwon Smith has been charged with capital murder,” said Assistant District Attorney Teresa Heinz, who will prosecute the case. “The capital murder is stemming from more than one person being killed in one action, plan or scheme. So that is the provision of the capital murder statute that he’s being charged with.”
Heinz said Smith eventually will be brought to the Baldwin County Corrections Center to be held for a bond hearing. There isn’t yet a timetable for those steps, she said.
One point stressed by Mack was that the double homicide appeared to involve only a few specific people and that residents in the area had no cause for fear. Elberta Police Chief Cliff Brown said it was a relief to area residents that the Major Crimes Unit had established that so quickly. “This was definitely an isolated incident,” he said.
In a twist, representatives of some Florida law enforcement agencies were on hand for Tuesday’s press conference. Sgt. Joshua Grayce of the Crestview Police Department said that Smith was a person of interest in the March 2017 disappearance of Calandra Marie Stallworth.
Smith was Stallworth’s boyfriend at the time and was the last person to be seen with her. He had been previously interviewed in that case, Grayce said, but it remained unresolved.
“We are hoping that the arrest of Antwon Smith will spark new information about Calandra’s disappearance,” Grayce said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Crestview PD at 850-682-2055 or Emerald Coast Crimestoppers at 850-863-TIPS.