'Losing A Little Bit Of Sunshine': Hale County Man Slain In Buhl Remembered For Compassion

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Hale County Middle School Assistant Principal Katie Andoe knew Beau Nolen for most of his life and loved him as if he were her flesh and blood.

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She could still see that grinning little boy in blue jeans and cowboy boots, even when he was a grown man.

Andoe's first memories of Nolen can be traced back to when he was about two years old and she kept him at New Beginnings Christian Academy in Northport. This proved a lasting relationship Andoe would value over the next couple of decades and one that she grieved in the days after Nolen was shot and killed at a party in Buhl early Saturday morning.

"He was just the sweetest kid," Andoe told Patch, speaking on behalf of Nolen's grieving family. "He was the cutest kid and then he had siblings come along and I started babysitting them at their house again. He always wanted to be outside and he was a good, mild-mannered kid. He would do anything you asked him to do and he was just a good kid."

As Patch previously reported, three suspects were arrested shortly after the fatal shooting off of Pate Road that killed Nolen early Saturday morning and injured three others. The suspects were identified as Dallas Eugene Clark, 22, of Northport; Zachary Tyler Smith, 23, of Buhl; and Jarret Tyler Booth, 21, also of Buhl.

According to a deposition obtained by Patch following the shooting, Clark turned himself in at the Tuscaloosa County Jail shortly after the shooting and told investigators that he and Booth had been beaten up at the party on Pate Road and were told to leave.

In the aftermath, Booth admitted to driving Clark back to Clark's residence so he could retrieve two handguns, with Clark later telling investigators that he shot "between two and five people" at the party once the mayhem broke out.

Smith, in his deposition, admitted to going to Clark's residence in Booth's truck, where he corroborated being told by Clark of his intentions to "kill" before the shooting. Court documents say witnesses at the scene reported to law enforcement that a man matching the description of Smith exited the truck with a gun and with a man also matching the description of Clark.

Beau Nolen was pronounced dead at the scene just after 3 a.m., despite Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies attempting life-saving measures.

From all accounts, he was little more than an unarmed, innocent bystander.

He was 20 years old.

All three suspects are charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. They have each been denied bond and will have court hearings on Thursday regarding the application of Aniah's Law to their cases.

Still, while the details of the case are slowly coming into clearer focus, the heart-wrenching pain left in the wake of such a tragedy is readily apparent in the outpouring of tributes for Nolen and support for his family.

"Beau wasn’t like anyone else I’ve ever met," Nolen's longtime friend Taylor Smith told Patch. "You could be having the worst day of your life and, in some way, he makes it the best. I remember when I lost my Dad, Beau was the first one by my side. He was the first one to come over and just sit in my room with me and make me laugh. Just his presence being there made me instantly happier."

Nolen's genuine and warm nature was also noted by longtime friend Shelby Rice, who told Patch she had known him since middle school.

"One time, he was wiring up his steering wheel and he wired it wrong, so every time he’d hit the gas, the horn would start honking," she said. "Another time, my battery went out and he rode around with me for like three hours trying to find a new one. He also put [subwoofers] in my old car and just changed the tail light in my car last week ... and when we used to go eat, he would take the straws and put one inside the other so the straw would be like five feet tall."

As Patch previously reported, a GoFundMe has been launched for Nolen's family that has raised $6,230 toward its $10,000 goal from 96 donors as of the publication of this story.

Andoe thought back on those early years watching Nolen grow up — her disposition brightening as she recalled his blue jeans, cowboy boots and love of trucks. She also reflected on the deep love he had for his family.

"If Big Mama [Nolen's grandmother] dropped him off for school, he would have a teetotal meltdown until she literally would have to crawl down the hallway so he couldn't see her to get out to her truck," Andoe said with a nostalgic laugh. "He would calm down after about two or three minutes. But Lord, he loved his Big Mama and then his Big Daddy. And when Big Daddy would pick him up, it was on. He would just be so excited and, he was such a happy kid and laid back, easy going and going with the flow."

In times of mourning and agony, though, sometimes it's the smallest, seemingly inconsequential memories that can bring someone back to life — even if just for a moment.

"He had a shirt from the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi when he was little," Andoe chuckled. "He was so proud of it because it said 'Beau' on it."

While Andoe developed a relationship with Nolen in the earliest years of his life, she would also be there when he began attending Hale County Middle School.

"I would see his Mom and his Big Mama at the store and we'd catch up and things like that," she said. "But then when I got the assistant principal job at Hale County Middle School, Beau was in seventh grade and we were reunited. It was so much fun and was so nice to have him and his family there because it was familiarity in a new place for me.

"He didn't remember me from being two years old, of course, but we'd seen each other through the years and our joke was, you know. 'Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know you changed my diapers when I was two' and I was like, 'I sure did. I know you, boy.' He just had that great personality, joking around."

During these formative years, Andoe recalled Nolen's ability to surprise those around him with his wit and compassion.

For example, she remembered Nolen's eighth-grade spelling bee — one that he entered as a joke and ended up winning the whole thing.

"He loved people and he loved being around people," Andoe said. "He had a good relationship with every child and every adult in the building. He just did and he was helpful. God, he was helpful. We were trying to create some outdoor classroom spaces when he was in middle school and we had a grant and we ordered stuff to build outdoor picnic tables."

Andoe reflected on how Nolen, who was always good with his hands, even in middle school, took so much pride in putting those tables together by himself. In an increasingly digital and cynical age, the longtime school administrator agreed when asked by Patch if such community-oriented traits are rare in kids these days.

"People would offer to help and he said 'no' because this was his project and he was going to do it and he would stay after school every day working on it. And he was so, but he took so much pride in that and he, he took pride in the fact that he was giving back to his school."

She also thought back on a landscaping project at the school that Nolen was particularly helpful on, which Andoe said further underscored his love for his community and his unceasing willingness to lend a helping hand if he could.

"We were out there and we have the bare minimum of tools," Andoe said. "We had some boys out there and Beau was one of them because if we needed anything done, Beau was our go-to guy. But we got to a point where we needed some more equipment and Beau goes into the office and gets on the phone and calls his cousin over at West Alabama Mechanical [in Moundville]. Next thing I knew, a truck pulled up with shovels and any kind of equipment that we needed. He was as resourceful as all get out."

Nolen's personality traits in his middle school years are worth mentioning at length because they are some of the first instances of an approach to life that never really changed. Even as he grew older, Andoe said, he never lost his heart for others or his laid-back disposition.

"He wore boots to prom for goodness sake," Andoe said with a laugh. "And he wore them to graduation, too. He wasn't pretentious. He was just a good person and it's just so heartbreaking that this is what happened because he didn't deserve that. I can't imagine any instance where he would have even caused that."

The exact circumstances and, more importantly, the reason for, the physical altercation that ultimately led to the shooting remain unclear at this time. And apart from a justified desire for closure from his family, those details are far less important at this time to those left behind to mourn Nolen's death.

As Andoe pointed out, the family can't even begin making funeral arrangements until the investigation moves forward and an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office is complete.

"It's so tragic that nowadays people can't just get in a fistfight and the loser walks away," she said. "Instead, we gotta go and be the bigger and badder and it's just unfortunate. It's setting such a bad example for our young people, too, and he wasn't about that."

When asked about Nolen's dreams and ambitions before his life was cut so tragically short, Andoe said he was a man of modest taste — not an unrealistic dreamer or hand-wringing schemer looking for the next big score in the hopes of becoming a highfalutin millionaire.

No, Beau Nolen chose to live by the sweat of his brow, most recently with West Alabama Mechanical. He also enjoyed being outside — specifically on the river — and was content with a simple lifestyle and having a good time here and there. Just another red-blooded American boy, Andoe echoed when the term was used in response by this reporter following a story she shared.

"Beau could make anyone laugh, that was my favorite thing about him," Taylor Smith told Patch. "I always say you can’t stay mad at him. He would do something to make you so mad but as soon as you look at his goofy self you’re right back to smiling. We all agree he could get away with everything. He was one of the best friends a girl could ask for. Knowing him was loving him. I will forever miss that goofy smile."

Nolen also suffered plenty in his short life, especially after his Dad died unexpectedly in November.

As it would be with most anybody, the hurt was surely evident in the young man. But Andoe said Nolen never lost his zeal for helping anyone he could and it's a quality she will never forget.

The memories will persist, she explained, but the void left as a result of a young life being taken so prematurely is a wound that may never truly heal.

"You lost somebody that the young people could depend on," Andoe said. "If you had a flat tire, or you got your truck stuck at two o'clock in the morning, Beau was gonna come pull you out. You lost the person who, when you were down, would try to make you feel better. It's kind of like losing a little bit of sunshine."

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