Woodville man charged in Sunday slaying in Alabama

Jackson County, Alabama, authorities have identified the victim of an apparent homicide who was found dead on Sunday and arrested a Woodville man in the slaying Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities identified the body found Sunday as that of Charles David McEwen, 36, of Scottsboro. McEwen was found dead in the Estillfork community about 2:30 p.m. CST Sunday after someone spotted a body behind a home on County Road 140, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said.

Harnen said he couldn’t say much about the crime scene, but there were signs of foul play.

“It was determined to be a homicide,” he said.

Wednesday around 2 p.m. CST deputies took 27-year-old Raymond Lawrence Talley into custody at his home on County Road 82, Harnen said. Talley was on probation on a previous charge and now is charged with murder, possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of a pistol and four counts of altering serial numbers on a firearm, jail records show.

There are no other suspects, Harnen said.

He said the residents of the home on County Road 140 where McEwen’s body was found are friends of his who were not at home at the time of the slaying. There was no word on where the killing took place or whether McEwen’s body had been dumped where he was found after he was killed.

Harnen said investigators are still working to determine whether there was any past trouble involved in the slaying.

Talley, meanwhile, remains behind bars at the Jackson County Jail in Scottsboro. No bond has been set.