CULLMAN – The Jones Chapel man who allegedly shot and killed his son on Christmas Even has been indicted for manslaughter. Donald Wayne Trammell, 42, was indicted by a grand jury this week.
The indictment stems from an incident that occurred on Dec. 24, 2017, in which Trammell allegedly shot and killed his son, Logan Wayne Trammell, 22.
The Tribune is awaiting comment from the Cullman County District Attorney's Office and will publish a copy of the indictment when it is obtained.
Members and friends of the Trammell family, speaking to Birmingham news station WIAT CBS 42 in December, said Logan was driving away from his parents’ home around 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve in one of his father’s vehicles. Family said the father was unaware that his son was borrowing his truck, and, fearing the vehicle was being stolen, the father yelled and fired a warning shot, attempting to get the driver’s attention. Family said the father shot once at the tailgate, and once the truck stopped, the family said, the father realized he had accidentally shot his own son.
“It was just a horrific accident. A horrific accident. My brother thought someone was stealing his truck, never realized it was Logan because he didn’t live down here all the time, he lived with my mom and dad,” Logan’s aunt Tammy Jacobs told WIAT. “And he was supposed to be in the bed.”
Jacobs continued, “He’d never come and gotten one of his dad’s vehicles before, and his dad was out in his little shop, the little camper beside his shop….and he was recording (music), and he thought someone was stealing his truck, when he saw his truck going up the driveway,” she said. “And he shot and hollered, and he said it sped up, and he shot toward the truck again, and it’s dark, and he said, I shot toward the tailgate, and the truck stopped. And he said, ‘I walked up there, you know, hollering, ‘get out,’ I didn’t know who was in my truck,’ and still never realized that it was Logan, until he got the door open, and he realized who it was.”
Cullman County Coroner Jeremy L. Kilpatrick told The Tribune, which first reported the shooting, that Trammell was transported to Cullman Regional, where he died of his injuries a short time later, early Christmas morning.
Trammell was a singer-songwriter; his family and friends told WIAT that Trammell had dreams of moving to Nashville.
“Love your family every chance you get. Cause you never know when the last time you’re gonna see someone, or the last chance you’re gonna get to hug them. Or tell them that you love them,” Stacey Tankersley, another of Trammell’s family members, told WIAT.
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