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WICKSBURG, Ala. (TCD) — Investigators arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of beating a 70-year-old man to death in what the sheriff called a “brutal” killing.
According to Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza, on Dec. 12, 2023, deputies responded to a residence on U.S. Highway 84 West and found Durwood Ard “severely beaten” and deceased outside. Investigators collected evidence and submitted it to the state crime lab. On Jan. 18, officials received the lab results and arrested Justin Ammons on a charge of capital murder.
Valenza said Ammons had always been considered a prime suspect in Ard’s killing, but they could not take him into custody on a murder charge until the forensic results came back. He was booked into the Houston County Jail on the day of the killing on a shoplifting charge.
Ammons and Ard knew each other prior to the killing, according to Valenza. Ammons was most likely homeless at the time.
Ard suffered “severe skull fractures and structural damage to his skull,” and was deceased for about 12 hours before his daughter found his body.
Valenza said, “I’ve been with the department a long time, and that was one of the most brutal murders I witnessed.”
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