Madison Police Chief says Skyline Road murder unlike any he has seen before

MADISON – Madison Police Chief David Jernigan described a recent Madison homicide as being unlike any he had responded to previously. “In my 24 years living in Madison and the Tennessee Valley, I am not familiar with a similar type of crime occurring with this many subjects involved in a single criminal event — not with this many young men, at their ages, involved in the kind of criminal activity that happened at Skyline Acres,” he said.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on May 6, police responded to an emergency 911 call at an address on Skyline Road in the Skyline Acres subdivision. Officers discovered two victims inside the residence. One victim was transported to the Huntsville Hospital ER and the other was already deceased.

The deceased, Luke Robert Pratt, was found inside the residence. He had been stabbed multiple times. The other victim suffered a gunshot wound. He was treated at the hospital and released.

Since then, the Madison Police have worked diligently to capture six suspects and are actively searching for one more, Kenneth Khesahn Altonia Harvey, age 19. He is thought to be in the Jacksonville, FL area.

“He is considered armed and dangerous,” Jernigan said. “If the public has information regarding his whereabouts they are asked to call 911 and report it to their closest law enforcement agency. Take no action yourself against this suspect.”

Jernigan and Captain John Stringer, the department’s public information officer, held a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss the case. Stringer is also the commander of the investigation division whose detectives broke the case.

“Robbery was the apparent motive that resulted in Pratt’s murder,” Stringer said. “We also suspect that narcotics were involved.”

Stringer said that detectives were able to develop suspects quickly after the incident.

Hunter Mitchell Moore, age 18, of Huntsville was arrested the next day on May 7. He is charged with capital murder, attempted murder and burglary.

Austin Blake Holmes had fled to Orange Beach, AL and was arrested there on May 8. He is charged with capital murder and burglary.

Police detectives then learned two other suspects had fled to the Jacksonville, FL area. With the help of the Jacksonville Beach Police and U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Lucas Ray Kemp, age 18, of Toney was arrested on a beach in Jacksonville on May 9. He is also charged with capital murder and burglary.

The only suspect still at-large, Harvey, was also in the Jacksonville area. “It is believed he was traveling with Kemp and may have saw his arrest and fled the beach,” Stringer said. “He is still believed to be in the Jacksonville area. He does have ties to that area.”

On May 9, the police also arrested Hunter Guy Ray Dubois, age 20, of Athens, and charged him with burglary. He was later charged with murder on May 13.

An unnamed juvenile was arrested at the same day. Police were able to find evidence of the crime after a search warrant was served at his residence.

The latest suspect arrested was Caleb Ryan Kegley, age 19, of Athens. He was arrested May 16 and charged with murder and burglary.

Stringer said detectives believe the murder weapon was thrown into the Elk River, which has not been recovered. The Florence Police dive team is helping investigators locate it. “We had some storms come through that area since the murder, so the final resting place of the weapon may have shifted or have been covered with silt,” Stringer said. “The dive team has some very advanced equipment and we are hoping they will be able to use that to help us recover it.”

Stringer said the suspects all know each other either as friends of acquaintances. “They all hung out in the same group,” he said. Additionally, the suspects knew the victims.

“This is still an active investigation,” Stringer added. “I am not ruling out additional charges to be filed in the future. There are so many moving parts to this.”

“These young men are all ages 17 to 20,” Jernigan said. “That’s a sad commentary on the youth of today.  These teenagers should be thinking about what they are going to be doing for the summer, what they are going to be doing after high school and entering the workforce. We have all of them, except the fugitive we are looking for, in the Madison County Jail right now. That is very sad.”

Jernigan added that the Madison Police has worked countless hours to bring all of the suspects to justice. “This police department is not going to put up with this type of activity,” he said. “Don’t come to Madison and be involved in criminal activity like this, because we are going catch you and we are going to make you accountable.”

The suspects should have their initial court appearances soon. “I would expect to see some of them start moving through the court system within the next week to a month,” Stringer added. There were no bonds given for the capital murder charges and

The Madison Police received help in the case from several agencies, including the Decatur Police, Limestone County Sherriff’s Department, Florence Police Department, Madison County Sherriff’s Department, Orange Beach Police, Jacksonville Beach Police and the U.S. Marshals Service. “I can’t thank these agencies enough for the assistance in helping us connect the dots of intelligence information.”