(PRICHARD, Ala.) July 5 - One man is dead, and one is listed in stable condition after a Fourth of July celebration ended in gunfire.
Police say Demetrius Welch, 34, shot Clarence Risper and Rogerette Douglas on Seminary Street, which
is off Highway 45, around 12:45 this morning.
Jamiea Porter, 13, says she was at her father's house celebrating the Fourth of July when her family rushed inside and told her the horrific news. She says they came back inside the house and told her her daddy had been shot in the head and died.
Family members say the cousins, Clarence Risper and Rogerett Douglas, were trying to break up a fight when their neighbor Demetrius Welch shot Risper in the head, killing him instantly.
Porter says she does not quite understand why her father was shot. She says her dad is in a better place, but she wishes he was still with her.
Risper's mother, Linda Risper, says her son and nephew were trying to break up a fight when they were shot. She says they were not hurting anyone. She says they were trying the help and ended up being the ones hurt.
But, Linda says shooting her son to death wasn't enough for Welch. She says Welch opened fire, shooting everybody standing around a nearby car.
Linda's says her nephew was shot in the leg multiple times but survived. She says she she asked the Lord to spare her nephew, because he had already taken her son.
Risper's aunt says when she was told her nephew had died she did not think her son would make it either, but she thanks God that he pulled through.
Welch was also taken to the hospital where he was treated for gunshot wounds, although right now it's not clear who shot him.
Authorities believe alcohol may have been involved.
Welch is in jail, charged with murder.
