Man charged with capital murder in Falkville shooting; victim identified

Eric Fleischauer, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·1 min read

Feb. 6—A Falkville man was charged with capital murder after shootings Sunday evening in which one person was killed and two sustained critical injuries, according to the the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.

Mitchell Ray Beard, 62, of Falkville, died in the shooting, according to the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office has not released the names of the other shooting victims.

Joshua Lamar Knighten, 35, is in Morgan County Jail and being held without bond. He was booked into jail at 1:50 a.m. today. The capital murder charge alleges he shot a victim who was inside a vehicle. The shootings took place on the 50 block of Goodwin Road near Falkville.

Knighten was detained when deputies responded to the shooting, according to the Sheriff's Office. A second subject was questioned and released.

Upon arriving at the scene, deputies located one deceased individual and one suffering from a gunshot wound. A third victim with a gunshot wound left prior to deputies' arrival and was at Falkville Town Hall. Both victims were treated and transported to Huntsville Hospital by Air Evac.

Knighten was previously charged with third-degree assault in Lawrence County, but according to court records the charge was dismissed in 2015 when the alleged victim declined to testify.

He was charged in Limestone County with third-degree theft in 2009 and after pleading guilty was sentenced in 2010 to two years of unsupervised probation, according to court records. His probation was revoked when he allegedly stole $1,940 worth of "knives, tools, jewelry and a bottle of wine" and served a year in jail, according to a court order. At that time he resided in Athens, according to court records.

— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.