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Road rage suspect charged in murder
Michael Harris.jpg
Harris

A 59-year-old man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a motorist he didn’t even know in what Alabama authorities are calling a case of road rage.

Michael Harris of Steele, Ala., was booked Friday afternoon in Blount County, Ala., and charged with first-degree murder. He is currently being held without bond.

Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon says Harris has confessed to the shooting death of Warren County native Dakota Nunley, 22, while the two were traveling in separate vehicles along Highway 75.

Immediately after the shooting authorities began asking the public for information about a silver Toyota 4-Runner which was involved in the altercation. Officers were said to be looking for a large, white male with a gray goatee.

Harris does not have a gray goatee in his booking photo. Booking information also doesn’t contain his height and weight.

“The shooter is not a local man,” said Sheriff Moon. “I can’t say how grateful I am to Sgt. Sanders. He just poured over camera footage and we had a couple people who gave us their footage from their cars, they had cameras in their cars, and he just poured over the video and finally after a couple of days was able to find a vehicle matching the description that the witness gave and we were able to get a tag number. When we ran that tag, we were able to start putting our suspects together.”

Steele, Ala., is about 30 miles from Remlap, Ala., which is where the shooting took place.

Sheriff Moon said Harris came to the Blount County Sheriff’s Department voluntarily Thursday around lunch. The sheriff said Harris did not show up driving a silver 4-Runner but that investigators were in the process of getting that vehicle.

“We had every intention of charging him no matter what he said today,” said Moon during a Thursday afternoon press conference. “He changed his story a couple times, but once he saw the evidence we had in front of him he confessed.”

Nunley still has a number of friends and family members in this community and there was a huge turnout for his Dec. 10 service at High Funeral Home.