One arrested in double homicide, more arrests expected

A Bonifay woman has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in the double homicide that is currently under investigation by the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and the Dothan Police Department.

On July 11, the  Dothan Police Department received a missing persons report for Shauna Terry and her boyfriend, Damien Bell. The two were last seen leaving a Dothan motel in a red SUV on July 18, 2022.

The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) received information from the Dothan Police Department on July 28, prompting the agencies to open a joint investigation. 

Information discovered during the course of the investigation led investigators to believe that one or more bodies were buried on private property on Long Round Bay Road, in Bonifay. HCSO investigators obtained and executed a search warrant at this location.

Through investigative work and the use of cadaver dogs from Bay County Sheriff’s Office, an area of the property was determined to contain human remains. Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)  crime scene unearthed the remains. Those remains are believed  to be those of Shauna Terry and Damien Bell; however, positive identification will be made by the medical examiner’s office.

On July 29, Dothan Police Department executed a search warrant in the 600 block of Dutch Sreett. in Dothan, Alabama, suspecting that one of the murders may have been committed at the location while the other is believed to have taken place at the Long Round Bay Road property.

One individual, 35-year-old Sheena Marie Thurman, of Bonifay, has been arrested and charged with one open count of murder in Holmes County, and one count of murder in Dothan. 

Thurman is currently being housed in Houston County and will be extradited back to Holmes County.

Other persons of interest have been identified and the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are forthcoming.