Phenix City man arrested and charged with murder in Smiths Station shooting death
A Phenix City man has been arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of a Smiths Station man Sunday night, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
The sheriff’s office said they received a 911 call around 6:30 p.m. Sunday in reference to a 34-year-old man being shot in the chest in the 8000 block of Lee Road 246 in Smiths Station.
Deputies arrived around four minutes later and found the victim, Anthony Hodge, with an apparent single gunshot wound to the chest, LCSO said.
Hodge was taken to Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital in Phenix City, where he died, according to the sheriff’s office.
LCSO said deputies found the suspect, 20-year-old Jeremy Chandler Wiggins, in the parking lot of an area store. Wiggins was transported to the Lee County Detention Center, according to the news release.
The shooting was at Hodge’s residence, and the two men were acquaintances, LCSO said.
“The victim will be transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for a postmortem examination,” the news release says.
Wiggins is being held without bond, pending an Aniah’s Law hearing. Aniah’s Law provides judges more authority to deny bail to people charged with serious crimes, such as murder, according to the Stove’s Law Firm website.
The LCSO asks anyone with information about the case to call their office at 334-749-5651 or Central Alabama Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867).