Pair Of Teenagers Charged With Kidnapping In Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Two teenagers have been charged with kidnapping and other offenses after local law enforcement received a report from a family saying a relative was being held against their will.

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Captain Jack Kennedy, commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, told local media on Monday that Amarion Dewayne Smith, 18, and Korbyn Markeith Williams, 19, are both charged with first-degree kidnapping, trafficking marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp.

Both are being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond.

Kennedy said on Saturday that the family first made the report to police and said they were receiving demands for money.

"The Tuscaloosa Police Department and Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers were able to confirm that the victim’s phone was originally in Tuscaloosa, and multiple law enforcement agencies began working together and developed a possible location in Bessemer," Kennedy said. "Bessemer Police were able to make contact with the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of a business and take all the suspects into custody."

Kennedy said the Violent Crimes Unit then executed numerous search warrants for both physical and electronic evidence, interviewed multiple witnesses, and located video from multiple location in two counties.

He went on to say that it was determined that the victim had been abducted at gun point from his residence because an acquaintance had failed to pay for a large delivery of drugs.

"The suspects then began forcing the victim call friends and family and began demanding large amounts of money," he said. "Due to the courageous actions of the family and multiple police agencies working together, the suspects were located with the victim still in their vehicle and he was recovered unharmed."

Kennedy said the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force aided in the investigation, is continuing to look into the drug transactions.

"Both TPD and TCSO Cyber Units, Crime Scene Units, and Communications Divisions (dispatchers), and the Bessemer Police Department all worked together seamlessly to locate the victim," he said. "This case is another example of the excellent cooperation and communication of the law enforcement agencies in Tuscaloosa County."

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