Newton man gets 100 years for shooting

Tyler Patrick attended classes at Wallace Community College and worked as a server at The Blue Plate to make some extra money. Patrick lost his job and dropped out of school after a man shot him during a robbery at a friend’s Dothan apartment.

But Patrick, 20, who goes by “Ty,” has tried to return his life to normal after the 2005 shooting, his parents Robin and Larry Patrick said Monday.

“He’s trying to return back to normal, but for the longest time he was very nervous in large crowds,” said his father, Larry Patrick.

The shooting severed the femoral artery of his son’s left leg, leaving him physically and emotionally scared.

“He could’ve lost his leg, we’re fortunate he did not die,” Patrick said. “He was an avid athlete, and it makes it difficult to jump.”

On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Lawson Little sentenced Dewayne Chambers, 21, to serve 99 years in prison for the robbery, and an additional 20 years for the assault. A jury found Chambers guilty of both charges in January.

“He gave him the max for a first-time offender with no previous history,” said Allen Mitchell, Chambers’ defense attorney. “This seems a little extreme.”

Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska disagreed and said the sentence was appropriate for the crime.

“Judge Lawson Little is a law and order judge,” Little said. “There’s no mercy in his courtroom.”

Valeska said someone convicted of first-degree robbery faces the same punishment as someone charged with murder, rape or kidnapping, which are all Class A felonies. Normally the defendant serves a third of their sentence or 10 years, which ever comes first, before they are eligible for parole, Valeska said.

Chambers’ co-defendant, Charles Whigham, was also charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree assault. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 40 years in prison, Valeska said.

More than a half dozen of Chambers’ relatives attended the hearing, including several who left the courtroom in tears.

Larry France, Chambers’ uncle, called the sentence unfair.

“He should’ve got a lesser sentence because he was not the shooter,” France said. “He was not guilty and he fought it.”

Patrick identified Chambers as the trigger man during the trial, Assistant District Attorney Gary Maxwell said.

Bobby Bennett, an associate pastor of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church and a family friend of Chambers, said the sentence showed how justice had not been served in the case. Bennett also said the justice system shouldn’t be so quick to put people behind bars, and instead try to rehabilitate them.

“Judge Little is just giving everybody 99 years, and I don’t think that’s right,” Bennett said. “I’m disappointed in the justice system.”