Ex-teammate of quadruple amputee US cornhole pro accused of murder says case shocks him

The former doubles partner of a professional, championship-winning cornhole player who had his four limbs amputated in his infancy and is now accused of a deadly shooting says he was shocked to learn about the case, calling it an instance of at least two families being torn apart in one fell swoop.“I’ve been mad, sad – it sucks,” Mike Hoffman said of his past cornhole teammate Dayton Webber during a telephone interview on Tuesday.Hoffman’s comments came amid a national media frenzy surrounding the circumstances of Webber’s arrest on suspicion of shooting and killing a passenger in his car during an argument in southern Maryland on Sunday.The 51-year-old Hoffman said he was stunned at the accusations against Webber, 27, like many around him were.“If the allegations are true,” Hoffman said, “he’s made some terrible decisions.”Webber previously had been known best for the youth wrestling and professional cornhole careers he pursued despite enduring a quadruple amputation at 10 months old, something that earned him endearing media coverage from outlets such as ESPN and the Washington Post. His parents told ESPN that the amputation and an accompanying months-long hospital stay saved Webber’s life from a severe bacterial infection.Hoffman said he met Webber, his fellow Marylander, about a decade earlier through the competitive scene around cornhole, a game which involves tossing small dried corn-filled bags at targets made from inclined wooden platforms with a hole at the higher end.The pair were impressed with each other’s skills and teamed up for doubles play, winning a number of championships within a region including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Webber and Hoffman’s success eventually earned them professional status, with both competing as partners in the American Cornhole League (ACL), which is broadcast on television by ESPN.Hoffman recalled being ready to “do things for” Webber as they made their way around the pro circuit, given that his younger teammate was a quadruple amputee. But Hoffman said he quickly learned how proudly self-sufficient Webber was.Sometimes Webber modified his car pedals so that they came up to his knees, and he steered with his elbows, Hoffman said. Hoffman said Webber would operate the pedals other times with a prosthetic leg that he would keep in his car.Webber at one point even posted a video on a YouTube account of his which depicted him deftly loading a handgun and firing it several times.Hoffman did not discuss that video, which circulated widely online on Monday. But Hoffman said he had never forgotten how smoothly Webber got himself on to a restaurant stool, ordered a cheeseburger and ate it on one of their first meal runs as pros.“Quickly, you stopped opening doors for him and stuff like that,” Hoffman said of Webber. “He could do whatever he felt like doing. Nothing could stop the kid.”Hoffman said he considered Webber a friend and, given their age difference, tried to make himself available to be a mentor. More recently, Webber had been less active on the high-level cornhole scene, yet Hoffman said he made it a point to catch up with him regularly.He nonetheless said it had been a few months since they had spoken when news of Webber’s arrest broke.The sheriff’s office of Charles county, Maryland, in suburban Washington DC said Webber was driving three passengers in his car on Sunday night. He allegedly began arguing intensely with his front-seat passenger, 27-year-old Bradrick Wells, and shot him twice in the head, mortally wounding him.Webber allegedly asked his other passengers to help him remove Wells’s body from the car. But they refused, fled the vehicle and reported Webber to police while he drove off with the victim.Police later found Wells’s body in a local yard. They eventually tracked Webber and his car down about 150 miles away in Virginia, where he had allegedly sought treatment at a hospital for an unspecified medical issue.Investigators arrested Webber after he was discharged from the hospital. He faces charges of murder, assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.Many questions remained unanswered by officials on Tuesday, including what the reason was for the argument preceding Wells’s slaying. Whatever that may have been, Hoffman said he wasn’t surprised at the fierce interest the case had drawn from the public given some of the remarkable facts about Webber.Hoffman also said he did not believe Webber is a bad person – but added that it was important to keep in mind the loved ones of the victim.“Dayton has a great family, and I care about that family,” Hoffman said. “Yet, obviously, there is somebody [who] died, and you need to be respectful of that.”