Star athlete dies in shooting

Former basketball stars Tank Beavers and Thurston Turner shot in Huntsville restaurant; suspect charged with murder
By Kelly Kazek
kelly@athensnews-courier.com

It was just after 9 p.m. Sunday when Sharon Beavers got a call from her cousin Toshi Shoulders.

“She said, ‘Tanqueray’s been shot.’ I said, ‘Quit lying,” Sharon said.

But Sharon would soon learn the awful truth — Tanqueray “Tank” Lavonacheke Beavers (top), 21, of Huntsville, and his second cousin Thurston Duran Turner (bottom), 27, of Athens, both standout basketball players, were two of four victims of Sunday night’s shooting spree at T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant on University Drive in Huntsville.

Tanqueray, who witnesses said was shot in the head, was dead at the scene; Turner was clinging to life Monday at Huntsville Hospital.

A close friend of Tank’s and Turner’s, Autora “Tory” Frias Rogers, 24, of Athens, a former Athens High School basketball manager, was also at Huntsville Hospital, but a spokeswoman said she could not release information about his condition and Huntsville police investigators are not releasing a condition. A friend of the family, however, said Rogers was improving.

The fourth victim is William Timothy Reliford, 33, of Hazel Green. Several local people said Reliford was working as a bartender at the restaurant at the time of the shooting. A Huntsville Hospital spokeswoman said the hospital has no record of him being treated there.

Huntsville Police Department investigators had suspect Jamal Roydrick Woods, 21, in custody Sunday night at Huntsville Metro Jail, said spokesman Wendell Johnson. Woods is charged with murder in connection with the death of Tanqueray Beavers.

Tanqueray, a 2004 graduate of Athens High School, was well-known in Athens, not only for his talent on the basketball court, but also because he was an outstanding young citizen, said Suzanne Rainey, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Limestone County.

Rainey, eyes red from crying, said she spent Monday morning visiting Tank’s grandmother, Emma White, with whom Tank lived for many years.

“They were very close,” Rainey said.

Tank was about 9 years old when he became the first member of the Boys & Girls Club when it was founded in Athens 12 years ago, she said. He was named Youth of the Year in 1995, 1998 and 2004. The local title allowed him to compete for state Youth of the Year.

“He was first-runner up in the state in 2004,” Rainey said. “He missed the winner’s spot by less than a point.”

Tank has an older sister, Terashia Beavers, and a younger brother, Trevon Beavers, she said.

Tank’s father, Ralph White of Athens, drove Sharon Beavers, who lives in Tanner, to the scene of the shooting Sunday night after they received word their son had been shot.

Sharon said a cousin, who witnessed the incident, stated that Tank said “hello” to a female cousin who was at the restaurant with her husband, Jamal Woods.

“They said his cousin ignored him, and her husband said, ‘Don’t you know that’s my wife?’

Tank said, ‘That’s my cousin.’

The man turned to her and said, ‘Is that your cousin?’ and she said, ‘no,’ so the man shot Tanqueray in the head.’”

Sharon Beavers and Toshi Shoulders said Tank did not know Woods and that the Woods couple had a history of domestic violence.

“It was just a senseless crime,” Shoulders said.

Johnson said at 9:10 p.m. Sunday, Woods became angry when another customer of the restaurant was looking at his female companion, who Tank’s family said was Woods’ wife and Tanks’ cousin. According to witnesses, Woods approached the man, asked him a question, then pulled out a gun and allegedly shot Tank Beavers and three others, Johnson said.

Tank’s father said he was told Tank, Turner and Rogers were sitting at the bar.

Johnson said Woods and three of his friends left the table where they had been sitting and fled the scene. Woods left in his vehicle, but a K-9 team tracked his friends to a nearby Hampton Inn, where they were detained and questioned.

Johnson said Woods was apprehended hours later by officers in a vehicle in south Huntsville. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges could be filed, he said.

Rainey said she was shocked when was notified of Tank’s death at about 10 p.m. Sunday.

“It was not about being in the wrong place or being with the wrong people,” she said. “He had just gone out to dinner.”

Sharon said her son, whom she said had recently been living with her and her fiancé, was “a good boy, a good person.”

“We had the best relationship,” she said. “There was no violence or anything like that.”

Tank turned 21 on Nov. 22.

Tanner High School basketball coach Chris Whitt said Thurston Turner was an outstanding athlete when he attended school there before graduating in 1998.

“I’ve coached here for 13 years and he’s one of the best guards I had,” Whitt said. “He led us to two straight Final Four appearances when we played for the state championships — in 1997 and 1998.”

Whitt said Turner is also a good person.

“He was a great person, very respectful toward the coaches and anybody he was around,” he said.

Tank’s coach, Athens High School’s Venard Hendrix, said the young man still came to the school to watch games.

“He was here Friday night,” Hendrix said. “He was always helpful; he talked to the kids all the time. We’re going to really miss him.”

Hendrix said he was in regular contact with Tank.

“Tank would always call me up. We would talk often;” he said. “We remained close after he graduated. He was just a great person, just fun to be around. It’s hard to believe.”

Athens High School Principal Chris Bolin said Tank would attend games and give advice to the coaches and to players.

“He was back last season and this season,” Bolin said. “He had ideas of what we could do better. He was a huge Athens High School supporter.”

He also shared those ideas with children learning the game, Bolin said.

“He had an ability to connect with small children; he had a personality,” Bolin said. “Young kids wanted to be around him. I think Tank was a great kid. He always represented Athens High School well. “

Rainey said Tank would also come to the Boys & Girls Club on Washington Street, where some of his younger cousins are members, and pick them up or offer to help with their hoops skills.

“He’s just a special person,” Rainey said. “He had an awful lot going for him.”

Tank spent a year at the University of Memphis, where he went on a basketball scholarship. He returned home and was working for Reggie Battle doing construction but was planning to return to college. His father said Tank was considering the University of Alabama; his cousins and Rainey thought he was looking at a Florida college.

“I know a lot of people felt he should have stayed in Memphis but Tank’s just the kind of person who’s going to make his own choices,” Rainey said.

Ralph White said Peoples Funeral Home will handle arrangements when authorities release Tank’s body, which will likely happen today.

Dozens of cousins gathered Monday either at the home of Tank’s mom in Tanner or his father in Athens, trying to make sense of the shooting.

“Tank was our heart,” Shoulders said. “This is a big void out of our lives.”