Men accused of killing 12-year-old, burying dad, plead innocent

PHENIX CITY, ALABAMA - Two men accused of killing a 12-year-old boy and then slitting his father&#39;s throat and leaving them both for dead in a makeshift grave pleaded innocent to capital murder charges Wednesday. <br> <br> Twenty-two-year-old Jimmy Lee Brooks Junior of Smiths Station and 43-year-old Michael David Carruth of LaGrange were chained and wore bulletproof vests as they were arraigned before Russell County Circuit Judge George Greene. <br> <br> No trial date was set in the capital murder case, which can result in a death sentence if convicted. <br> <br> A grand jury indicted Brooks and Carruth on capital murder charges in the death of 12-year-old Brett Bowyer on February 12. The two men allegedly took the boy and his father, Forest ``Butch&#39;&#39; Bowyer, to a site 20 miles south of Phenix City after stealing $30,000-$40,000 from the Bowyer home. <br> <br> The abductors allegedly shot Brett three times in the head, slit his father&#39;s throat, and left both for dead in a makeshift grave. Butch Bowyer crawled from the grave, walked to a highway and flagged down a passing motorist. <br> <br> Brooks and Carruth are also charged with the attempted murder of Forest Bowyer and first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary of Bowyer&#39;s home.

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