In a preliminary hearing today for the three men charged in the death of Nicholas Hawkins, attorneys and police revealed that one of the men had a relationship with Hawkins.

Joshua Adam Reese, who the other defendants and the Walker County sheriff have pointed to as the shooter in the 19-year-old's death, was involved in a relationship with Hawkins and the teen's mother, Daphne Webb.

District Attorney Bill Adair said he couldn't comment on the two relationships or if they presented a motive in the killing.

Adair asked Dora police Chief Jared Hall about the relationship between Reese and Hawkins, and Hall confirmed that the two were in a romantic relationship. Reese's attorney Justin Forrester asked Hall about the relationship between Reese and Webb, which the chief also confirmed.

Hall said that sometime on Sunday, February 14, Reese met up with his sister, mother, and another family member. After Reese's mother asked her son if he knew anything about Hawkins' disappearance, she said that Reese made a throat-slitting motion and imitated pumping a shotgun.

Hawkins' body had not yet been found.

Hall went into detail about the scene where the killing occurred, saying that the property included an abandoned house and may have been owned by the Reese family.

He said that Reese, Cory Daniel Conner, Danny Lee Jarvis, and Hawkins were riding in Hawkins' white Chrysler Sebring while they did drugs on Saturday night, February 13. Reese was driving the car.

At some point, an argument erupted between Reese and Hawkins.

The group made a stop at a camper home on Doliska Road in Dora, when Reese got out of the car and went inside the camper. He asked the residents there for a blanket, and they gave Reese a blue electric blanket.

Those residents later told Hall that they found it odd Reese was asking for a blanket, but they gave it to him anyway.

Forrester pointed out that Webb did not call authorities at that time.

After Reese returned to the car, he drove the group to an abandoned lot about 1,000 yards from the camper home.

There, Reese argued with Hawkins and then went into the lot's empty house to retrieve more blankets.

Hawkins tried to flee the men, but Conner told Hall that Reese shot Hawkins in the back with a shotgun. Then, Conner said Reese beat Hawkins in the head with the butt of the gun.

The state medical examiner said that Hawkins cause of death was both gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma to the head.

Hall said that the examiner agreed the trauma could have been caused by the butt of a shotgun.

After the murder, Conner and Jarvis both told police that Reese threatened them to help dispose of the body. Jarvis admitted to helping wrap the body in the blue blanket and secure the covering with duct tape. He and Reese then put Hawkins' body in a duffel bag and into the trunk of the vehicle.

They went to a site on River Road, about half a mile away from the crime scene, Hall said. Jarvis helped Reese remove the body from the car and place it in a pile of brush. Conner was "the lookout," making sure no cars were coming that could see the men.

The next morning, Sunday, February 14, Reese went to Tessa Wise's home in Hawkins' car. The missing teen's family showed up and spotted the car, leading them to knock on the door and yell for Hawkins. The family also called police.

Witnesses described Reese leaving Wise's home through a back door. Neither Conner or Jarvis were said to be at that scene.

Because the family did not have the keys to the Sebring, they called Sumiton Wrecker Service to tow the car.

Hall said that once officers obtained a search warrant for the car, they found the 12 gauge shotgun, duffel bags, t-shirts, a wallet containing Hawkins' drivers license, wire cutters, duct tape, shotgun shells, bleach, blood, and hair.

Hall said that the car had a strong smell of bleach. The gun, he said, was missing a butt plate and had a screw hanging off. He said it appeared to be split down the side.

Wise later told police that she had noticed some items missing from her home, including bleach and t-shirts.

At some point, Reese logged onto Hakwins' Facebook page via the teen's cell phone. He sent messages to people saying that he, Reese, was on Hawkins' account.

Hawkins' phone and car keys have not been found.

Judge Henry Allred sent the case to a grand jury today, and the hearing was adjourned just before 11 a.m.

Forrester said, "...the burden is very low for the state at a preliminary hearing. As this case progresses through the system and the state has to prove these allegations beyond a reasonable doubt and overcome [Reese's] presumption of innocence, I believe it will be difficult to establish Reese as the man who killed Nick Hawkins. With that said, I know this is a difficult time for the family of Nick Hawkins and I hate they are having to go through such a traumatic event."

Members of the victim's family and friends were present at today's hearings. They wore shirts with a picture of Hawkins to show their support.

Conner's family was also present in the courtroom.

All three men are charged with murder, and three other people have been charged with hindering prosecution in the case.

Adair stressed that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty.