Baldwin County authorities charged a Perdido man who formerly lived in Atmore with murder in the early morning, August 22, slaying of a Perdido man who also formerly lived in Atmore.
Justin Bryan Still, 31, is accused of shooting 25-year-old Christopher Allen to death after an argument over money that Allen claimed Still owed him for some work he had done for a man with whom authorities say he had “a history of conflict.”
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office investigators were sent to a location along Dallas Hadley Lane in Perdido around 7:45 a.m. on August 22. They arrived to find a body that was determined to be that of Allen, whose parents and grandparents live in Atmore.
“He had apparently gone to a residence where the suspect, along with another male and female, were staying to recover money he said he was owed from a construction job,” said Capt. Steve Arthur, BCSO’s Chief Investigator.
Arthur reported that when Still refused to pay the money, Allen took a pair of bolt cutters and cut the power to the residence. Still reportedly grabbed a handgun and chased Allen, firing several gunshots, one of which hit the fleeing man in the upper torso.
Investigators believe Allen was shot and left beside the rural roadway to die. He was reportedly able to walk and crawl to a fence line along Hoyle Bryers Road before he finally succumbed to a loss of blood from the wound.
“One of the shots hit the victim in the upper chest,” said Arthur. “He then ran about 50 to 100 yards and collapsed.”
Still, whose driver’s license lists an Atmore address, actually lived in a mobile home on McKinley Road in Perdido, about a mile from where Allen’s body was discovered. According to law enforcement officials, he and Allen both spent about half their time in Atmore, the other half in Perdido.
“We believe that he bounces back and forth between the two areas,” the chief investigator said of the shooting suspect. “The same is true of the victim.”
Deputies, aided by tracking dogs, recovered a .22-caliber handgun that is believed to be the murder weapon. The pistol was found at a residence near the one at which Still lived.
“The wounds are consistent with those that would have been made by such a weapon,” Arthur said, “We also have witnesses that say they saw Still enter the residence, drop the pistol and say something about the shooting.”
He said that investigators were “pretty confident that was the weapon used,” although the results of ballistic tests will provide the final proof.
Authorities said they were confident that Still, who was picked up for questioning Tuesday morning and was interrogated throughout Tuesday, fired the fatal shot and they eventually charged him with the murder.
Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks said last week that he was familiar with Still, who had been in and out of trouble since his father, Bryan Still, was killed in a 2006 motorcycle accident.
“Yes, I’m familiar with him,” Brooks said. “He has had a lot of issues over the years, but none of those issues comes close to the issue he now faces.”
The Baldwin County Jail website shows that Still is being held under a $50,000 bond on the murder charge.
The website also lists a “detainer for hold” from Escambia County authorities for which no bond is allowed, but Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said Tuesday that the sheriff’s office is “not showing anything active on him with our agency.”