Man charged with shooting Anniston teen, believed to be partners

Man charged with shooting Anniston teen, believed to be partners in crime

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By Dixon Hayes - email
Chris Surles. Source: Oxford Police Department. Chris Surles. Source: Oxford Police Department.
TALLADEGA COUNTY, AL (WBRC) -

Authorities believe a murder suspect and his alleged victim were partners in crime, in a bank robbery one day before a murder.

Chris Surles was arrested in Columbia, Tennessee Monday on the robbery charge from Oxford. Since then, Talladega County Sheriff's investigators have confirmed they've obtained a murder warrant for Surles.

The bizarre case began Thursday morning in Oxford, with the robbery of the BB&T Bank on Highway 78 in Oxford. Oxford Police Lt. Chip Owens confirms 19 year old Matt Howie and Chris Surles were the two suspects in that robbery.

Howie's body was found the next day in a wooded area just off Kentuck Road, just over the county line from Oxford in Talladega County. Talladega County Sheriff's Capt. Bill Kennedy confirmed Howie had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, but declined to go into more detail, pending autopsy results.

Kennedy confirmed Tuesday morning his department filed a murder warrant against Surles for Howie's death. He says the sheriff's office also filed for a "governor's warrant" to extradite Surles from Tennessee to Alabama.

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