Reaction of the victim's father and police chief

PRICHARD, Ala. (WPMI) — “Can you imagine getting a message like that on your birthday? Oh, the murder case has been dropped.”

Prichard resident Mario Yow was not expecting this news, especially on his birthday: The case against the man accused of killing his son was dropped because the investigating officer did not show up for the hearing.

“Man,” Yow said with a sigh, “I just wish they would do their job. If not, let the county come and take over. Get rid of all the police.”

And someone else was equally unhappy with the case: Prichard's police chief Walter Knight.

“He had also contacted someone on the seventh floor of the prosecutor's office to tell them the reason for his failure to appear,” Knight said.

At the center of the controversy is the fatal shooting of Yow's son, Dontavious Williams, on April 2.

Kendarius Welch, who was on probation at the time for another shooting, was charged with William's murder.

The judge had already reheard the case several times.

But when Jason Hadaway, a Prichard police detective, missed Welch's preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the judge dismissed the case entirely.

On Thursday, Police Chief Walter Knight held a press conference to defend his officer, saying Detective Hadaway was busy with another death investigation at the time of the hearing and advised the DA's officer that he would be late.

In addition, previous hearings had been postponed for other reasons, he says.

“There were several times in these reschedulings where the case was rescheduled because the prosecutor wanted it,” Knight said, “and a couple of times because the defense attorney wanted it. But this one time, when he was investigating another death, he wasn't present and they decided to dismiss the case.”

Yow didn't like any of it.

“You offered to take this job. We didn't force you!” Yow said of the detective. “You said to my face, right outside headquarters, Mario, leave this to me. We're going to make sure this case sticks and we're going to get this case closed because they had evidence. But you not showing up in court is like a kick in the ass… It's sad, man.”

But even though the case was dismissed, that doesn't mean Welch can get away with it, according to Police Chief Knight.

Charges could still be brought against him.

“To move this case forward, we have spoken with the district attorney's office about referring the case to the grand jury. The grand jury date has not yet been set. But that is the plan for this case.”

Yow remains skeptical.

“I mean, it's almost like an IF, seriously. IF the grand jury picks it up. You know what I mean? If 'IF' was a fifth, we'd all be drunk.”

Meanwhile, Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood told NBC 15 News that Welch remains on probation and in custody for the previous shooting and that the facts in this case could constitute a violation of those probation terms.

Blackwood says this violation could cost him seven to 10 years in state prison.