Victim’s father says quadruple amputee cornhole pro accused of murder had ‘unstable reputation’

Bradrick Wells, who was just months shy of his 28th birthday when he was shot and killed inside a vehicle on Sunday night in Charles County, had been warned.

He had even expressed misgivings about associating with the alleged shooter, a professional cornhole player who is a quadruple amputee, according to Wells’ father.

Michael Wells, 64, said in an interview Tuesday that his son was closely acquainted with the accused shooter, Dayton James Webber, 27, and that the two hunted deer together, recently killing two bucks.

“He was very loving. He tried to do everything for people — he helped this guy who killed him,” Wells said of his son. The father said he had been on Webber’s property and watched Bradrick clean his house.

Webber was arrested on Monday morning in Charlottesville, Virginia. He will be charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and other crimes, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

Alex Goodman, a Charlottesville-based attorney, was assigned to represent Webber on his extradition charges Tuesday morning. Goodman said he could not speak to the details of the case.

A person who answered the phone for a number listed under Webber’s mother’s name declined to comment Tuesday about the shooting.

Authorities said Webber was driving a Tesla with Wells in the passenger seat and two others in the back seat when the shooting took place Sunday night. The two surviving passengers refused to help Webber dispose of Wells’ body, police said, adding that all four of them were friends. Detectives said they believe an argument took place prior to the shooting.

The elder Wells, who last saw his son hours before the shooting, said he has spoken with police investigators but not with the other two people who were in the car. He said he had no idea what could have motivated Webber to allegedly kill his son.

“Brad helped him a lot, as far as like a caregiver, and his (Webber’s) parents even loved Brad,” Wells said. “They liked Brad because he didn’t take advantage of him.”

According to news reports from ESPN and an essay he wrote for NBC’s “Today” show, Webber contracted a serious blood infection when he was 10 months old and doctors amputated his legs and upper arms to slow the infection. Medical professionals told his family he had a 3% chance of surviving, he wrote.

In an interview with ESPN from August 2024, Webber said the loss of his limbs did not stop him from pursuing athletic prowess. He became the first quadruple amputee to compete in the American Cornhole League.

Cornhole, often called “bags,” is a popular backyard game where players toss bean bags from 27 feet away at a raised board with a hole. The first to reach 21 points wins.

“I believe that God put me on this planet for one reason,” he told ESPN, “to inspire other people just by me doing my daily tasks.”

ESPN’s “SportsCenter” featured Webber in August 2023, and he explained his tagline, “The world won’t wait.”

“It essentially means, this world as we speak is spinning. It’s not going to stop. It doesn’t matter what happened to you, you’ve always got to keep moving forward, because we’ve all got goals to reach and we all have limited time on this earth to accomplish those things,” he said in the segment.

On his TikTok, where as of Tuesday he had more than 9,600 followers, Webber posted inspirational clips showing his cornhole highlights, daily routine and hobbies. He can be seen loading a crossbow, hunting, fishing, driving and sledding.

“Only thing that stops you is you,” he wrote in the caption of one video, with hashtags including #inspiration, #theworldwontstop and #lookmomnohands.

His mother, Natalie Webber, told “SportsCenter” that her son had overcome the odds — doctors were initially so concerned about his health that they suggested baptizing him and giving him his last rites.

“People can make choices in their attitude, and I’m glad to see he still likes to look at the glass as half full,” she said.

Wells said that his son told him some people took advantage of Webber because he had money, but he had a different kind of friendship with Bradrick. Wells said Bradrick had recently bought a new car and was storing it on Webber’s property the day of the shooting.

The father said he questioned his son about spending time with Webber, who he said had an “unstable reputation.”

“Who knows why he slipped like that?” Wells said.

Banner reporter Céilí Doyle contributed to this story.