Justice For Brandon Hydrick

Limestone County man charged with capital murder could bond out of prison

In The Loop Communications — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:46:41 +0000

In a surprising turn of events, District Attorney Brian Jones announced he would not seek the death penalty while prosecuting the trial against Joel Moyers. One week later a judge granted Joel Moyers’ a bond hearing because D.A. Jones had decided to forgo the death penalty. Despite facing a recently upgraded charge of capital murder, Moyers’ attorneys may now be able to see him released on $260,000 bond. The motions will be heard in Limestone County on February 19 at 9 am. This hearing is open to the public and supporters of Brandon Hydrick are encouraged to attend.

Limestone Co. DA: No death penalty for capital murder suspect

In The Loop Communications — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:12:33 +0000

ATHENS, AL (WAFF) – Amanda Jarret

Court documents filed in Limestone County Circuit Court reveal the State of Alabama does not intend to seek the death penalty against Joel Moyers.

Limestone DA will not seek death penalty for Joel Moyers in shooting death of Brandon Hydrick

In The Loop Communications — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:09:42 +0000

ATHENS, Alabama – The Limestone County District Attorney will not seek the death penalty against Joel Moyers, who was indicted in December on a charge of capital murder in the shooting death of Brandon Hydrick.

District Attorney Brian Jones said he filed his decision Thursday in Limestone County Circuit Court after talking with Hydrick’s family. Hydrick, 26, died in September after being shot with an automatic weapon while riding in a truck along a rural Limestone County road.

Moyers, who claimed that night he was shooting into the air as a warning although authorities said the bullet’s path indicted otherwise, will now face life in prison if convicted.

Jones said he discussed the option of the death penalty with Hydrick’s parents and siblings and told them rules in the law regarding aggravating circumstances. He said a murder must be considered “atrocious and cruel” to seek the death penalty.

“Every murder is a horrible incidence, but in the law you have to compare the horribleness of one murder to another,” he said.

Brandon Hydrick was killed Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, in Limestone County (Contributed, Hydrick family)

In addition, Jones told the victim’s family a death penalty case would take longer to come to trial and to resolve even after a conviction.

“In all reality, a death penalty case never ends,” he said. Now that he has filed his decision, the case will move on a faster track with fewer pre-trial motions from defense attorneys.

“It will have a beginning, a middle and an end,” Jones said.

Defense attorneys have until a Feb. 19 hearing to file motions with Circuit Judge Jimmy Woodroof in response to Jones’ decision.

Moyers, who was living in a Fennel Road mobile home at the time of the shooting but then was required as a condition of his bond to move back to his mother’s home in Cullman, was indicted in December but learned of the charge online and ingested pills before he could be arrested. He was taken to Cullman Regional Medical Center and remained in the intensive care unit for five days.

When Moyers was released from the hospital, he was taken to Limestone County Jail, where he is being held without bond on the charges of the indictment: capital murder, reckless murder, intentionally shooting into an occupied vehicle and recklessly shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Moyers was initially arrested following the Sept. 29 shooting of Hydrick, who had recently moved to Limestone County and was riding in a pickup truck with his brother, Ryan Hydrick, 25, of Harvest when Brandon was struck and killed by a round from a semi-automatic weapon.

The weapon was initially identified as an AK-47 but Jones said it is an SKS, which was manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1940s and ’50s. An SKS uses the same type of ammunition as an AK-47.

The shooting occurred at about 3 a.m. on Fennel Road in rural Limestone County. The brothers recently left a cookout at the home of Brandon’s girlfriend’s family.

Moyers told authorities at the time that he fired his weapon into the air because the young men in the truck were acting suspiciously. However, authorities said the bullet entered low on the truck, traveling through the tailgate, the backseat and the front passenger’s seat, striking Brandon.

Follow Kelly Kazek on Twitter.

Email Kelly Kazek at kkazek@al.com or call 256-701-0576 or find her on Facebook.

WHNT Reports: Man Accused Of Shooting Brandon Hydrick Now Charged With Capital Murder

In The Loop Communications — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:36:07 +0000

Reprinted from WHNT 19 News

Posted on: 5:29 pm, December 7, 2012, by Josh Voight, updated on: 05:42pm, December 7, 2012

LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – The man accused of killing 26-year-old Brandon Hydrick in September is now charged with Capital Murder.

Joel Moyers, 52, was previously charged with murder for the shooting death of Moyers.

On Friday, a Limestone County Grand Jury handed down an upgraded charge of Capital Murder.

According to Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely, Hydrick and his brother, Ryan, were heading home after a bonfire with friends, when they stopped along Fennell Road.

Blakely says Moyers became suspicious when he saw their truck on the road around 3 a.m.. Moyers then left his house and pursued the men with his AK-47 in hand.

Blakely says Moyers attempted to stop their truck and get a tag number, but when they saw the gun they tried to speed away. That’s when Moyers says he fired a warning shot.

Instead, investigators say, the bullet went through the tailgate of the truck, into the cab, and struck Brandon Hydrick in the back, killing him on the scene.

2 Months & Still No Justice For Brandon Hydrick

In The Loop Communications — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:01:40 +0000

Rick Vanderliest wrote this, today, on the 2-month anniversary of Brandon Hydrick’s murder. He agreed to have it shared here. All he asks is that you sign the petition:

Brandon Hydrick 1986 – 2012

“He was one of my best friends. He was all of our best friends. He’d have stopped any time, any where, for any of us if he passed us on the road. He never asked for anything. So now, I’m asking for this, for him.”

“His murderer was able to bond out of jail just 48 hours after killing my best friend with a single shot fired into the tailgate of his truck, driven by his brother Ryan. That should not be possible. It is stated clearly in Alabama law that shooting into an occupied vehicle is one of the guidelines for which a murder qualifies for Capital Murder. This killer deserves it. They were driving down a public road.”

SIGN THE PETITION TODAY

“If you doubt ANY of my facts on this matter, do a bit of research into this, and you will see that my facts are undisputed. Please help his family and friends in this cause to have the killer’s bond revoked and pulled off the streets. No family is safe with people like this on the streets.”

Brandon Hydrick Murder Article in Sunday Athens News Courier

In The Loop Communications — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:26:36 +0000

This article is a reprint written by Jean Cole of the Athens News Courier. November 25, 2012

Slain man’s girlfriend seeks justice

By Jean Cole jean@athensnews-courier.com

— Brandon Hydrick and Bronwen Murray met about a year ago at a charity run.

Brandon, an avid runner and outdoorsman, was participating in the UPC Krispy Kreme 5K, and Bronwen was handing out T-shirts to the winners.

The two didn’t know each other but they had a mutual friend at the event.

“I needed a date that night to the Margarita Ball, which supports Toys For Tots, and Brandon agreed to go with me. So, it was kind of a blind date.”

The two dated casually at first, but within a few months they were serious about each other.

“We were inseparable, always going everywhere together,” Bronwen said. “Canoeing on Piney Creek, hiking with the dog or catching a movie at the Athens drive-in, it didn’t matter, we were in love and had fun, whatever we did, wherever we went together.”

The couple had been together about a year when one indelible moment shattered their bliss.

The shooting

Hydrick, 26, died in a pickup truck driven by his 25-year-old brother, Ryan, on Sept. 29 in southern Limestone County. The brothers had been roasting hot dogs and marshmallows at a Piney Creek campsite with some friends on land owned by the Murrays. They were driving home in the early morning hours, when they got lost in the Fennell Road area and stopped. Joel Patrick Moyers, 52, was living on Fennell Road in a mobile home owned by his mother. Moyers saw the Hydrick truck, thought it looked suspicious, grabbed his AK-47 assault rifle and a flashlight and walked toward the pickup. As Ryan drove toward Moyers, Moyers tried to get the occupants to stop so he could get a tag number. Realizing Moyers was armed, Ryan continued past him. Moyers then fired a single “warning shot” into the air, he told investigators. However the shot, which investigators said was not fired into the air, struck the truck’s tailgate, penetrated the cab, pierced the back seat and killed Brandon.

The aftermath

Bronwen is comfortable telling people how the loss has affected her and her family.

“Brandon’s murder has changed my life in so many ways. There are the immediate ones — grieving, crying, not being able to eat, sleep, or work,” she said. “Visits to the doctor for medication and bi-weekly sessions with a psychotherapist.”

Along with the sadness, she said, there is also anger.

“If the alleged murderer had not the access to such a powerful weapon, Brandon may have lived,” she said.

She said it breaks her heart that the shooter will be allowed to spend Christmas and New Year’s holidays “in the company of loved ones in a vacation home on Smith Lake.”

Moyers was freed after posting bail of $260,000, and is now living with his mother in Cullman.

As for the Hydrick family, there will be an empty chair at their home during the holidays where their son Brandon should be.

Bronwen cannot help wondering what might have been.

“The thing that grieves me most — that makes me sob when I try to sleep at night, is the love that was stolen from me,” Bronwen said. “If Brandon were alive we would have kissed at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Maybe we would have traveled together outside of the country, something he had never done. Who knows, it could be that Brandon and I were meant to be together, raise a happy beautiful family, laugh together, grow old and wrinkly together.”

Murder or capital murder?

Bronwen and her family have channeled their loss into a campaign to get the maximum sentence for Moyers. Through social media, they are telling the story and asking others to pressure the Limestone County District Attorney’s Office to seek a capital murder charge against Moyers. Currently he is charged with murder.

The difference in the charges would come in the sentencing phase, if the accused were convicted. Capital murder is punishable by a sentence of either life in prison without the possibility of parole or a death sentence. In contrast, a murder charge is punishable by 20 years to life in prison — whatever a judge deems suitable upon conviction.

The Murray family believes the district attorney should move to charge Moyers with capital murder rather than let a grand jury decide whether the charge should remain the same, be upgraded or even downgraded. They are motivated, in part, by fear. Fear that a grand jury would either decide not to upgrade the charge against Moyers or, what would be worse in their eyes, downgrade his charge.

“What is preventing the district attorney from charging the defendant with capital murder?” said T.D. Murray, Bronwen’s father. “Does he feel that his office is not capable of trying a capital murder case? That they do not have the necessary experience? If so he should request that the attorney general’s office take over the case. Is it incompetence or inexperience that is causing the district attorney to resist the capital murder charge? Or is there something less obvious motivating him?”

According to the Alabama criminal code, one of the definitions of capital murder is murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle.

T.D. said the evidence supports capital murder.

“The defendant first claimed that he shot into the ground,” T.D. said. “Then, after the sheriff’s deputies arrived, he claimed that he had shot into the air. The sheriff and the district attorney did not believe the story from the very beginning, because their visual inspection showed that the bullet had gone through the tailgate of the truck, through the wall of the truck, into the cab and into Brandon’s back. Obviously, the defendant had aimed directly at the truck. Therefore, the defendant should have been charged with capital murder.”

T.D. said the district attorney initially told the family that Moyers would be charged with capital murder.

“The district attorney stated the morning of the murder that the charge would be capital murder,” T.D. said. “But within a half an hour, he reduced the charge to reckless murder.”

T.D. said he and his family have discussed the case with numerous legal professionals, including assistant district attorneys, a former district attorney and several criminal lawyers.

“Each and everyone of them agrees that the charge against the defendant should be capital murder,” he said.

No bail

If Moyers were charged with capital murder, a judge would have the option of setting bail or jailing the accused without bail until the trial. Although the Murray family believes Moyers should not be allowed freedom before his trial, judges usually set bail, even in capital murder cases.

“The district attorney has already argued to the court that the defendant is a danger to the community,” T.D. noted. “The defendant would remain in jail for the two or more years it will take for his case to come to trial. He would not be vacationing in luxury at Smith Lake. Back in jail is as it should be, given the circumstances of this murder.”

District attorney’s view

District Attorney Brian Jones told The News Courier in October he could include capital murder as one of the possible options for charges when he presents the case to a grand jury.

Because the case will soon be presented to a grand jury, Jones said Friday he could not discuss what the options would be. However, he gave no indication he has ruled out capital murder.

“Right now, I cannot comment on capital murder being an option while the case is still under investigation,” Jones said. “Capital murder is the most serious charge I can levy against a defendant. It is not something that I do lightly or on a whim. The only potential punishments are life in prison without the possibility of parole or death. I have to be as thorough as possible and have all my ducks in a row before I charge a defendant with this charge. I do not want to rush out, willy nilly, and file charges before an investigation or DFS analyses are finished and end up with a potential flaw in my prosecution.”

He pointed out a similar case in which Lamar Anderson, who is accused in the blunt-force trauma death of estranged girlfriend Wendy Defoe Bond, was initially charged with murder before the charge was upgraded to capital murder.

“During the early stages of that investigation, capital murder-rape charges were discussed,” he said. “We did not want to jump the gun, and Anderson was charged with murder until such time as the investigation and DFS forensic testing were complete. After the case was fully investigated, it was very apparent that rape was not a proper charge and the grand jury indicted Anderson on capital murder-burglary and the case is pending trial.”

The Murray family fears that if the decision about the charge is left to a grand jury, it may not upgrade the charge to capital murder or, worse, that it might downgrade the charge if given that option. T.D. is urging people to call or email the assistant district attorney, who will help prosecute Moyers, to express support for a capital murder charge.

The Bronwen campaign

See Bronwen’s online resources at http://www.BrandonHydrick.com. Go to her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForBrandon. Or, see her Twitter account @Justice4Brandon and a blog at tinyurl.com/justice4brandon.

Krispy Kreme Run For Beezy

In The Loop Communications — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:52:40 +0000

On Saturday, November 17 supporters gathered to run the UCP Krispy Kreme Run annual 5k in downtown Huntsville. This year though there were dozens of supporters dressed in bright pink shirts to support ‘Justice for Brandon Hydrick.’ They donned pink shirts and ran the race to honor the recently slain 26-year-old Brandon, who was shot in cold-blood while riding as a passenger of a truck by the mobile home of Joel Moyers, a Limestone County resident.

Moyers was released on bail despite the fact that his crime is a capital murder offense, a charge that does not allow release until trial. In spite of all of the negativity surrounding the death of an innocent, hardworking, intelligent, handsome, and kind man, those of us who were close to him would like to have something positive flourish from this tragedy. The first step began with running in the U.C.P. race wearing ‘Justice for Brandon’ t-shirts.

If you would like to weigh in on this tragedy please email james.ayers@limestonecountyda.org who has released the shooter on bail and charged him with reckless murder, a much lesser charge than capital murder. The message need not be long — a simple — “I support a capital murder charge for Jody Moyers, killer of Brandon Hydrick” —- would suffice. Personally, I have taken it one step higher to the Attorney General of Alabama, Luther Strange. Here is his number if you would like to voice your opinion also: 334-242-7300.

No Date Set For Moyers Grand Jury

In The Loop Communications — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:45:06 +0000

This article is a reprint written by Jean Cole of the Athens News Courier. We think the title should be “Cake-Walk For Killer.” Please read then email james.ayers@limestonecountyda.org or call 256-233-6416 to ask for a capital murder charge for Brandon Hydrick’s killer Joel Moyers. The District Attorney has the ability to revoke bail and place Moyers in jail at any time. Make it happen today. ~Justice For Brandon

November 14, 2012

Moyers to come before grand jury

By Jean Colejean@athensnews-courier.com

— A preliminary hearing for a man accused in the fatal shooting of an Athens man has been waived and his case will now come before a grand jury. No date has been set.

Joel Moyers, 52, of 793 County Road 226, Cullman, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday at the Limestone County Courthouse. His case was continued until Nov. 27, but defense attorney Dan Totten of Athens asked the court to waive the hearing.

Moyers is charged with murder and shooting into an occupied dwelling in the Sept. 29 death of 26-year-old Brandon Hydrick of Athens. He is accused of firing one round from his AK-47 assault rifle into the rear of a truck containing Hydrick and his brother, Ryan, 25, who was driving.

The grand jury will decide whether there is adequate evidence to formally charge Moyers.

Moyers was living in a mobile home owned by his mother when the shooting occurred on Fennell Road. Family members of the Hydricks say Brandon and Ryan had been roasting marshmallows and hot dogs with friends at a campsite on Piney Creek and returning to their own homes when they became lost in the Fennell Road area. Moyers spotted their truck in the early morning hours, thought it looked suspicious and tried to stop it. When the young men sped up and away from Moyers, he fired a shot into the truck, which pierced the cab, back seat and the passenger seat and struck Brandon Hydrick in the back.

Moyers told investigators at the scene he fired “a warning shot” into the air and that he did not intend to strike the truck’s occupants.

Investigators have said they do not believe Moyers fired into the air.

Running For Beezy

In The Loop Communications — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 03:26:08 +0000

How many of you think you could run 2 miles, eat a dozen doughnuts, and then re-run 2 miles to the finish line? Oh, and – I forgot to mention – this you must do in 60 minutes. Well, this November 17, in downtown Huntsville, the United Cerebral Palsy group will host their annual Krispy Kreme Run Challenge, which requires its participants to complete those challenges listed. Those deemed winners run all 4 miles, ingest all 12 doughnuts, and complete the tasks in the allotted time.

Each participant who completes the challenge receives an “I Met the Challenge’ t-shirt, which is green. Those who do not meet the challenge receive a consolatory white t-shirt that ever-marks them as sub-par. This fundraiser is extremely popular, and particularly successful among young professionals. Now in its fourth year, the event it is expected to be more colossal than ever.

Adding to the colossal crowd this year are a dozen, or so, special participants. They will don pink shirts and run the race to honor the recently slain Brandon Hydrick, who was shot in cold-blood when riding as a passenger by the mobile home of Joel Moyers.

Josh Hamilton, a family friend who has known Brandon since childhood said of the shirt design, “I guess you could say that Brandon himself inspired the shirt design. We went with a pink shirt because that’s the color we most identify him with.”

“I don’t think it was his favorite color by any means, he was just random about sporting the color every now and then. He was the only person that could put pink shoe laces on his skateboarding shoes and no one would have anything negative to say about it.”

Brandon – who ran seven or eight miles a day at an average of seven minutes a mile — and still wanted to improve, volunteered to mentor others in their fitness journey. His own brother Ryan Hydrick recalled, “Brandon was instrumental in getting me to run and encouraged me in that way that only he could.”

“With a big grin he’d twist my arm by telling me before we started running, “I might just do 6 miles today,” and when I would confront him on 6 not being a low number for him he would admit that, to make me run farther, and try harder, he was willing to shorten his run. He always thought about others first and inspired everyone he met.”

In full-disclosure, I must confess that I was Brandon’s girlfriend. We first met nearly a year ago at the Krispy Kreme doughnut run. He ran the race — and met the challenge, by the way — while I, along with my friend Larkin Grant, handed out t-shirts to the winners. When I saw Brandon from a distance, immediately I found his bright blue eyes and beautiful smile to be striking. Was it love at first sight? Well, now we’ll never know as Brandon is no longer with us to share his half of the encounter.

The rest of our fairy-tale romance was beautiful until the night Brandon was killed. Then it became a horror story — one that Stephen King himself could have penned. If you are interested in reading the entire gory account visit the ‘Media Coverage’ section of the Justice For Brandon Hydrick website.

In spite of all of the negativity surrounding the death of an innocent, hardworking, intelligent, handsome, and kind man, those of us who were close to him would like to have something positive flourish from this tragedy. The first step begins with running in the U.C.P. race wearing ‘Justice for Brandon’ t-shirts. There is a second step in the works, which we will be able to give you more details on at a later date.

For those of you that have been touched by this story there is also a Brandon Hydrick Memorial Fund at Redstone Federal Credit Union. If you feel compelled to give you may donate a check, made out to Brandon Hydrick Memorial Fund, at any Redstone Federal Credit Union bank. Or if you bank electronically you may transfer a fund using the code: 51005418925 NIC.

While the family is still determining what charity the fund will support, it will likely be used to establish a scholarship for someone that is gifted at soccer or running in honor of Brandon’s passions for those pursuits.

One Month, Still No Justice For Brandon

In The Loop Communications — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 03:55:34 +0000

While most people are concerned with costumes and trick-or-treating this time of year, in a real-life horror story the man who shot and killed 26-year-old Brandon Hydrick is currently free, and living at a vacation home on Smith Lake.

Shooter Joel “Jody” Moyers

In what sounds like a quadruple-roman-numeral scary movie saga, during the month since Hydrick’s death the admitted shooter Joel Moyers has been out on bail to roam the community at-large.

Numerous sources have reported that last week the Limestone County Grand Jury convened, however, the issue of Hydrick’s murder was not brought forth. Many of Hydrick’s friends, family, and other citizens, who are concerned by their exposure to the admitted shooter, question why the matter was not addressed.

Furthermore, the Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones — who was quoted in the Athens News Courier stating that the shooter Moyers would “pose a real and present danger to others or to the public if he was at large,” has not made a move to ensure the safety of the community, by returning the menacing Moyers to jail.

Independent of a Grand Jury decision, the District Attorney Jones could revise the charge to capital murder and revoke bail. This would imprison Moyers and ensure he harms no one else.

The evidence and threat to the public is clear. Moyers confessed to shooting a gun, which resulted in his bullet striking the occupant of a vehicle, and that bullet killed the victim Brandon Hydrick. This, according to Alabama code, is capital murder.

Why has it been one month and yet we still have no justice for Brandon Hydrick?

For more updates follow the Justice For Brandon Hydrick page on Facebook or on Twitter @Justice4Brandon

Are you — or someone you know —- the victim of a violent crime? If so we are giving away a FREE website to tell your story, in honor of Brandon Hydrick’s memory. Today is the last day to enter and you may do so by clicklin this link: a Rafflecopter giveaway