One week after the Duke University Police Department issued arrest warrants for two suspects in the May 31 shooting incident at the Whitford Drive basketball courts, investigators have eliminated as a suspect the alleged shooter, Jonathan G. Patton, 19, and have arrested the other suspect, Brian Keith Liles, 21, on charges of aiding and abetting an assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill and inflicting serious bodily injury.
DUPD had been seeking Patton and Liles in connection with the shooting of Toby Madlock, 26, after a heated pick-up basketball game on the courts located near the R. David Thomas Center on West Campus. Maj. Robert Dean, who is heading the investigation, decided last Thursday not to press charges against Patton after two eyewitnesses to the incident failed to make a positive identification of him as the shooter.
Dean said DUPD obtained warrants for the arrests of Patton and Liles June 3 after Hunter Madlock-the victim's brother and an eyewitness to the shooting-"identified Patton as the shooter and Liles as being his associate." Madlock, who took his brother to the Duke Hospital emergency room after he was wounded in the hand and leg, initially identified the two suspects by their student photos in a 1996 North Carolina Central University yearbook.
Toby Madlock was released from the hospital the morning after the shooting. "I had never seen [the shooter and his accomplices] before in my life," he said.
Dean said he could not comment on Toby Madlock's role in the ongoing investigation; Madlock, however, was not one of the two eyewitnesses summoned by DUPD to view Patton and determine if he was the shooter.
Fred Williams, Patton's attorney, said that although his client had played basketball on the Whitford Drive courts on the day of the shooting, he was not involved in the incident. Investigators believe the suspects fled the scene in a tan or brown Toyota Camry with Virginia tags, but Williams pointed out that Patton drove to the courts that day in his burgundy Buick Centura with local tags.
"He left at least an hour or an hour-and-a-half before the shooting-he had gone," Williams said. "He was on his way home to New Bern, N.C., by then."
After learning through newspaper articles that he was the suspected shooter, Williams said, Patton turned himself in to the Durham Magistrate's Office and explained to DUPD officers that he did not play any role in the shooting incident.
"My client told me, 'Mr. Williams, I would go stand alone in a line-up,'" Williams said. "That's how insistent he was. I believed him."
Although no charges had been filed against him, Patton-accompanied by his father and Williams-agreed to participate in a line-up at DUPD headquarters last Thursday, Dean said. After Hunter Madlock determined during the line-up that Patton was not the shooter, DUPD decided to eliminate him as a suspect.
"He viewed Patton and said 'No, he's not the one,'" Dean said. "He said the hairstyle on the side of the head did not match that of the shooter... that the shooter's hair was more closely trimmed on the side. Based on that, the warrant was not served on Patton."
Also present at the line-up to view Patton was James Hester, Madlock's cousin, who returned the shooter's fire outside the courts and was arrested June 1 on charges of possessing a weapon on campus and discharging a firearm inside the city limits. Neither Hester nor Hunter Madlock could be reached for comment.
Because the two eyewitnesses both affirmed that Patton was not the shooter, Williams said he believes his client has been vindicated.
"My client, frankly, was not involved in the shooting-he was fortunate that [the eyewitnesses] were honest," Williams said. "[DUPD] said to my client, 'Look, we're sorry. Based on what we have, no charges will be brought.'"
Liles turned himself in Tuesday to the magistrate's office, where he was arrested on charges of aiding and abetting and possession of a weapon on campus. He was released later that day on a $10,000 secured bond. Under the advisement of his attorney, Liles has not issued any statement concerning the incident.
Dean said the week-long delay-between the issuing of the warrant and the arrest of Liles-was simply a matter of being unable to find the suspect. "We couldn't locate him-that's all I know," he said.
"Liles was arrested on those charges because he handed the gun to the shooter," Dean continued. "[But] we haven't recovered a gun yet, so we don't know whose gun it is."
These latest developments in the shooting investigation have left police with more questions than answers. As DUPD continues to hunt for two additional suspects-the shooter and another suspect whose alias is "Squirrel"-investigators remain uncertain as to the relationship, if any, between Patton and Liles.
"We're looking for someone who closely matches the description of Patton," Dean said. "The original description of the shooter-a black male with Hispanic features-has not changed."
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