By Blake Deshazo
The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma Police Department has identified the body found Thursday as a missing 17-year-old. Authorities confirmed the victim as Derrick Nichols.

Selma Police Chief John Brock said Nichols suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Teresa Collins, who is friends with Nichols’ mother, said the family is heartbroken.

“It’s very devastating,” Collins said. “It’s hard for anybody to go through this. I don’t wish this on anybody. I just wish they would put down the guns.”

Nichols’ was her son’s best friend. Her son, Cedric Williams, was shot and killed in March.

“That was my baby’s best friend,” Collins said. “My baby was murdered March 30, 2016, and [Nichols] was standing right next to him when my son was murdered. We’re hurting for him, and now we’ve got to relive this all over again.”

Nichols was found dead Thursday morning by a landowner who was checking his land. Brock said officers responded to the scene after the call came in around 9 a.m. and recovered the body.

Nichols was found about 75 yards from the highway on River Road between the two and three-mile markers.

Brock said the 17-year-old had been there for several days and was too decomposed to determine a preliminary cause of death or an identity at the time of the discovery.

Nichols’ body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery for an autopsy.

Brock said forensics notified him about the identity of the body Friday morning and a cause of death later that afternoon.

Lt. Sam Miller said Nichols’ family reported him missing Friday, Oct. 28 and that Selma police had been actively searching for him over the weekend.

“Investigators are interviewing witnesses trying to find out when he went missing, the last person to see him or any information on what happened,” Brock said. “We’ve got some leads we’re following up on.”

Nichols family and friends are hoping someone will come forward with information on what happened to him.

“We just wish someone would come forward and admit what they did,” Collins said. “They were man enough to take his life. Would they please own up to this and give us some relief? Because it is a hurting feeling.”

Police encourage anyone with any information to call the secret witness line at 874-2588 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-442-7463.