A professional cornhole player who is a quadruple amputee has been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting.
Dayton Webber, 27, is accused of killing a man in the front seat of his car during an argument on Sunday in his hometown of La Plata, Md.— about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C. — according to the Charles County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said in a press release that passengers in the backseat saw Webber shoot Bradrick Michael Wells, also 27, before he pulled over and asked them "to help pull the victim out of the car." They refused and left, at which point Webber "fled with the victim still in the car." All of the passengers knew each other, authorities said.
Nearly two hours later, a resident of Charlotte Hall, Md., about 14 miles away, called police to report "a body in a yard," the sheriff's office said. Responders identified Wells and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Detectives found Webber's car over 100 miles away in Charlottesville, Va., and got a warrant for his arrest. They were helped in their search by Virginia's Albemarle County Police Department, which said in a separate statement that one of its officers spotted Webber's vehicle at a gas station and used surveillance footage to track him down.
Webber was arrested at a local hospital, where authorities said he was "seeking treatment for a medical issue." He was charged as a fugitive from justice, and public records show he was booked into the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail on Monday.
The sheriff's office says Webber is awaiting extradition back to Maryland, where he will be charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and "other related charges."
Jail superintendent Col. Martin Kumer told NPR in an email that the court "did not address extradition" at its Tuesday morning hearing. He said Webber's next scheduled court date is "sometime in April," though his attorney could potentially ask for one even sooner.
NPR has reached out to Webber's attorney and Albemarle County court for comment but did not hear back in time for publication. The Charles County State's Attorney's office declined to comment.
Authorities say the murder investigation is ongoing, and are asking anyone with relevant information to call or submit tips online.
Webber's path to pro cornhole
At 10 months old, Webber was diagnosed with a bacterial infection, Streptococcus pneumoniae, that turned so aggressive he was given last rites.
"They had actually given me a 3% chance of living, and the only way that they were able to save me was by getting the infections out of my system," he said in a 2024 ESPN video. "They had to amputate my arms and legs to keep me alive."
That didn't stop Webber from pursuing and excelling at sports, including football and wrestling. In fact, ESPN profiled him in 2010, after the then-12-year-old finished fourth in his weight class in the Southern Maryland Junior Wrestling League.
Webber said at the time that it was his favorite sport, adding, "I like using my strength and being fit."
"Sometimes when I watch my teammates in certain situations I wish I had hands, but I just try to do things my own way," added the rising seventh grader, who said he wanted to be a priest or a Secret Service agent one day.
Over the years, Webber learned how to write, fish and hunt. Videos on a YouTube account believed to belong to Webber show him firing guns using his upper arms. He wrote in a 2023 Today piece that he "even taught myself how to drive by racing go-karts."
In the piece, Webber said he started playing cornhole — the lawn game in which players throw bean bags at a target on a sloped wooden board — in the backyard with friends, then weekly at his local American Legion.
"I loved it so much, I never missed a Friday," he wrote.
Webber was crowned Maryland's best cornhole player in 2020. He explained in the piece he wrote for Today that he doesn't wear his prosthetics in competition because they don't allow the same level of sensitivity or control, and has adapted his technique to throw the bags by their corners for more leverage. He said that while others often underestimate him, he hoped his experience would inspire people to "take chances and pursue their dreams" too.
Webber turned pro in the 2021-2022 season, becoming the first quadruple amputee in the history of the American Cornhole League. The governing body, founded in 2015, organizes tournaments that are broadcast on ESPN and CBS Sports.
The league confirmed to NPR on Tuesday that Webber has not been an active participant since late 2024. Nonetheless, it issued a statement acknowledging the allegations and declining to comment on them while proceedings are ongoing.
"This is an extremely serious matter and our thoughts are with all those impacted, including the family and loved ones of Bradrick Michael Wells," it said.
Copyright 2026 NPR