New details about a Madison County man locked up after police say a child used his gun to shoot another child at a gas station. 34-year-old Clarence Turner is charged with reckless endangerment and felon in possession of a gun.Â
The Madison County DA's office says they want Turner to stay behind bars. Court records reveal Turner served time in a federal prison for a 2012 pharmacy robbery. He admitted to stealing controlled substances and firing a weapon during a crime. Â
Chief trial attorney at the Madison County DA's office, Tim Douthit, said, “In May of 2015, he was arrested and actually did federal time for a pharmacy robbery and discharging a gun during a crime of violence, so under federal law and Alabama state law, a guy like that is not allowed to have guns anymore.â€
 Most recently, in the fall of 2023, Turner was charged with robbery and was out on bond up until this week, when he was arrested.
 Douthit said, “He committed a robbery or at least been charged with a robbery and was on bond for that when this new crime occurred, leaving the gun in the back with the kids, so our office is in the process right now of revoking his bond so he does not get out clearly; he's a guy that's not listening to the rules anywhere he goes.â€
The DA's office says it is alarming that there have been two incidents of young children getting ahold of weapons within the past couple weeks in Madison County.
Douthit said, “These are avoidable; these are the things where a little common sense would go a really long way towards making our communities a lot safer than they could be. Anybody who has a gun knows that it is a very valuable tool and very dangerous, and you have to treat it like both of those things.â€
As of Friday, Clarence Turner remains behind bars in Madison County. A judge has not yet ruled on the DA's office's request to revoke his bond.
Clarence Edward Turner
