CME youth and young adult murdered and wounded in tragic drive-by in Wadley, AL. By Rev. Jacob G. Colbert, Jr., pastor, Coger Hill CME Church, Daviston, AL. There are four towns located close to one another, about 25 miles above Alexander City, AL. The towns are New Site, AL; Daviston, AL; Wadley, AL; and Roanoke, AL. There are CME churches in New Site, Daviston and Wadley. All three churches have members who reside within the four “country towns.” Terrance Wilkes (shown above) and Jasper Buchannan (below) were both members of Coger Hill CME Church in Daviston, Alabama, where the pastor is Rev. Jacob G. Colbert, Jr.
Terrance was a senior at Wadley High School, and was well known as an outstanding football running back. He was the second leading rusher in Alabama high school history, with a total of 9,680 yards and 152 touchdowns. Terrance was also an honor student; he was looking forward to a promising future. His cousin, Jasper Buchannan, is a senior at the University of Alabama. Jasper was visiting with family in Wadley for Thanksgiving. He, along with his cousins and friends, decided to go to the park and play a friendly game of basketball. While playing basketball in the park, suddenly two cars drove up to the court. As the passengers unloaded, they began to open gunfire on all of the young men playing basketball. When the dust settled and the two cars had left the scene, Jasper and Terrance were shot and bleeding. Their friends and family rushed them to the nearest Medical Clinic where Terrance was pronounced dead upon arrival.Jasper was air lifted to the University of Alabama, Birminghamm (UAB) Hospital.
Two of the perpetrators turned themselves in to the local sheriff, and there were three others arrested within a few days. Pastor Colbert was visiting family in Buckeye, AZ and Jasper’s brother, Stephen, who is stationed in Denver, CO, telephoned Pastor Colbert to make him aware of what was going on. Pastor and Mrs. Colbert caught the next flight they could, to return to Alabama to minister to the families.
When Bishop Lawrence Reddick III (5th Episcopal District) found out about this tragedy, he immediately telephoned the family to comfort Jasper’s mother. The funeral for Terrance was planned and held in the high school gymnasium. Terrance's football team mates sat together, all of them wearing their jerseys. Attendance was well over 1000. The school principal and the football coach gave remarks, and Pastor Colbert officiated and preached the eulogy. There were seven ministers from the community present, including Rev. Gregory Scott who is pastor of White Chapel CME Church in Wadley, who offered the prayer.
Jasper’s recovery was painful, and his medical care very expensive. His mother insisted on either she or a family member being present with Jasper 24 hours a day. Pastor Colbert is employed in the Finance Department at UAB, so he was able to visit Jasper daily. Bishop Reddick directed Pastor Colbert to share the news at the Mid-Winter Accounting meeting of the Southeast Alabama Region and also offer a plea for financial support for Jasper’s medical treatment. In a free will offering, the conference raised over $1,400 and Bishop Reddick delivered the donations to the family at the hospital.
Possibly because Terrance in his death and Jasper in his recovery were receiving so much attention, a local newspaper printed an article quoting the local county sheriff’s office as saying that the violence possibly was the result of gangs fighting over drug-dealing turf. Neither of the young men had any proven ties to gangs or drug dealing. They both are excellent examples to the youth in their community. The article printed in the paper only proved to upset the families who are all active members of Coger Hill CME Church.
On Saturday, January 13, 2007, Coger Hill hosted a musical benefit service to raise more funds to assist in covering Jasper’s hospital bills. Gospel musical groups from all over the local counties came to participate. The service lasted four hours, and a good sum of money was raised. Jasper’s Mother, Sis. Edith Buchannan, stood to announce that whatever amount was collected, half will be given to Terrance’s family. The perpetrators are being held in the local county jail. Investigators are still searching for a motive.
The death of Terrance and wounding of Jasper have inspired the church family to begin to organize a Boys and Girls Club in that local area. Less than a month later there was another shooting in Wadley, and two teenagers severely beat another young man. Both of these violent crimes were centered on disputes concerning young females. Pastor Jacob Colbert was invited to preach a special revival focusing on the four “country towns” working together as “one village” to reclaim their communities. The revival was well attended, and there is now a greater focus on seeking solutions to stop the violence in these communities.