Thursday, July 9, 2009

Police call shootings a murder-suicide


Thursday, July 09, 2009
By Steve Campbell
Times Staff Writer steve.campbell@htimes.com

Spokesman cites couple's history of domestic violence

A fatal shooting Wednesday at a Huntsville apartment has been ruled a murder-suicide by police.

Danny Ray Seals, 53, shot Sandra F. Smith, 54, at Stonebrook Apartments before committing suicide, Sgt. Mark Roberts said. Children and other adults were in the apartment at the time of the shooting, which occurred about 8:30 a.m. off University Drive.

Police found Smith dead on the front porch of the apartment. Seals was found upstairs.

Police are investigating what led to the shootings, and Roberts said Seals and Smith had a history of domestic violence in 2008.

The victims were originally from Louisiana, and police say they believe the two might have moved to Alabama after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

They became the second and third shooting deaths in Huntsville in the last week.

On Sunday, Levi Cawthorne, 47, was arrested for the murder of his stepson, 31-year-old Thomas Steger, Saturday night, police said. The shooting occurred on Raton Road in north Huntsville. Police said the argument that led to the shooting may have been about beer.

On Tuesday, 21-year-old William L. Winton was shot in the face shortly before 7:30 p.m. while riding in a car on Alabama 53 near Douglass Road.

HEMSI paramedics took the victim to Huntsville Hospital for treatment, but hospital officials couldn't release any information on his condition because of patient confidentiality laws. Police said he was seriously injured.


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