Case on injury of student moves to Franklin
TUSCUMBIA — The Police Department has transferred the case involving a 15-year-old Deshler High School freshman who was seriously injured outside the school on Aug. 19 to the Franklin County Juvenile Probation Office and the Madison County District Attorney’s Office.
August Borden suffered serious head injuries when he landed on the concrete at an area near the street that runs between the main campus and Howard Chappell Stadium.
Authorities are investigating the reason why Borden fell, amid speculation in the community that something occurred to cause the fall.
PoliceChief TonyLogan said Thursday afternoon the decision was made to provide transparency and eliminate accusations of a conflict of interest in the case, which has set off a swarm of accusations and theories on social media and gained interest from national media outlets.
Colbert County District Attorney Hal Hughston III confirmed Thursday afternoon that his office has recused itself from the matter.
Logan said the Colbert County Juvenile Probation Office has agreed to do the same.
“The juvenile probation office here, like we do, wanted transparency,” he said. “It was easier to get an outside agency to take the case, and Franklin County was willing to do it. They are going to call on the Madison County District Attorney’s Office to handle the prosecution.
“There’s just been so much misinformation. I want people to understand, not from the first minute has there been a coverup.”
Logan said no arrest has been made in the case, and if there is an arrest and the suspect is a juvenile, no name can be released.
“If and when there are charges, I can update on that,” he said.
Logan said he understands people are frustrated.
“Why did it take nearly two weeks?” he asked. “Well, we had a lot of people to interview and had a lot of physical evidence to go through. We wanted to make sure we handled it correctly and looked at all aspects of it, and that just takes time.”
A 911 call came in around 4 p.m. on Aug. 19 as a fall with injuries, then came back that somebody had had seizures and it was a medical emergency, Logan said.
Borden, who is a Deshler football player, and several other players had left the weight room and walked across the street to the main campus when the incident occurred, Logan said.
He said earlier in the week that he may turn over the case to the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office after the investigation to see whether sheriff’s investigators reached the same conclusion.
Sheriff Eric Balentine said Thursday afternoon he has not been contacted by the police department.
“We have never been involved in the investigation of this case,” he said. “If they had called from the beginning, we would have been willing. We haven’t been asked to work it, and we wouldn’t want to work it this late into the investigation.”
He said his office was asked by Tuscumbia Police whether the county’s juvenile probation investigator would be willing to sit in on an interview with a juvenile, but they declined. They were not told what the case involved.
Tuscumbia Police issued a release on social media Thursday afternoon on the decision to transfer the case.
“After two weeks of investigation, the Tuscumbia Police Department has taken the case from Deshler High School, and has transferred it to the Franklin County Juvenile Probation office,” the release stated. “They are also receiving assistance from the Madison County District Attorney’s office. All of the subjects and witnesses (with exception of the coaches) are all under the age of 18, so that is where the case will have jurisdiction.”
Posts on social media have called for a demonstration to occur at Friday’s night’s home Deshler football game. Logan said he is aware of that.
“We’ve got a plan in place to deal with it,” he said. “Hopefully, we won’t have to use our plan. We’re prepared to deal with whatever we have to.”
