A 16-year-old Birmingham boy was shot to death in his front yard in November after a gun sale, arranged through Facebook with another teen, went bad, a Birmingham homicide detective testified Thursday.

Birmingham Police homicide detective Talana Brown testified at a preliminary hearing for Aaron Thomas and James Reynolds, both 18, before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro.

At the end of the hearing Petro found probable cause for the charges and sent the cases against Thomas and Reynolds to the grand jury for possible indictment.

The two teens are charged in the shooting death of Kameron Kerron Dumas on Nov. 17. The shooting happened in the 1900 block of Alabama Avenue where Dumas lived. Thomas, who investigators believe is the shooter, is charged with capital murder and Reynolds with felony murder.

Brown testified that Marquis Graham, the younger brother of Kameron Dumas, at first told police that he was inside his home when he heard a gunshot and came out to find his brother lying in their yard.

But Graham quickly changed his story and told police that he had witnessed the shooting, Brown said.

Graham told police that he was friends with a person on Facebook who went by the name of "Shoota Man Gang," Brown said. That person was identified as Thomas, she said.

Thomas had posted a photo of a handgun - a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson - for sale on Facebook and it was the type of gun Graham knew his brother Kameron wanted, Brown said of Graham's statements to police. The gun was actually owned by Reynolds, she said.

Graham told police that a meeting to discuss the sale at his and Kameron's house was scheduled but fell through, Brown said. But the next day, Nov. 17, Thomas and Reynolds came to the house, she said.

Graham reported that when Thomas and Reynolds drove up, the brothers asked them to pull up into the driveway because Kameron Dumas was wearing an electronic monitoring device and was afraid it would go off if he went to the street where Thomas and Reynolds had parked.

Court records do not indicate why Dumas was on electronic monitoring.

When the car pulled into the driveway Reynolds had the Smith & Wesson on his lap.

Dumas had suggested that he trade a .45 caliber Hi Tec pistol he had, plus $100, for the gun, Brown said Graham told police. The sale price was $250 for the gun, she said. But Reynolds said he didn't want the Hi Tec and he and Thomas drove away, the detective said.

Soon after that the teens had further contact with each other about the deal and Thomas and Reynolds returned to the house, Brown said.

Kameron Dumas offered to pay the full $250 - the $100 plus another $150 he planned to get from selling the gun to someone else, Brown said. But when they returned, Reynolds told him they would go with the original trade, she said.

Graham reported his brother put the $100 bill in the barrel of the Hi Tec pistol and both Dumas and Thomas held onto the guns as the swap happened through the driver side window of the car, Brown said. Thomas then snatched both of them away and shot his brother, the detective said. Thomas then drove away with Reynolds in the passenger seat, she said.

From the left, James Reynolds and Aaron Thomas (Birmingham Police Department)

When Thomas was interviewed by police, he said that it was Dumas who tried to rob them and that Reynolds was the shooter.

Reynolds told police he didn't know where Thomas was taking him that day and didn't know about a proposed gun sale, Brown said. Reynolds told police Thomas was the shooter.

Police located Dumas' gun, but did not find the Smith & Wesson, which Reynolds says he sold to another man, Brown said. The man who bought Reynolds' gun told police that once he found out it was involved in shooting, he threw it out into some bushes, the detective said. Police were not able to locate the gun, she said.

The Hi Tec gun that was recovered is being tested to see if it was the gun that fired the fatal bullets, Brown said.

Thomas had been held in the Jefferson County Jail with no bond set. But at the end of the hearing, at the request of Thomas' attorney, Don Colee, the judge set a bond of $200,000. The judge order that if Thomas can make the bond it is on the condition he be placed on electronic monitoring "and he is to be on total lock down except for court appearances."

Reynolds is free on $100,000 bond.

Defense attorney John Robbins represents Reynolds.

Deputy Jefferson County District Attorneys Danny Carr and Neal Zarzour are prosecuting the case.

Thomas is charged with capital murder - murder during the course of a first-degree robbery. If convicted of that charge, Thomas would not face the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time of the shooting. But he could still face a life without parole sentence.

Thomas turned 18 less than a month after the shooting.