Former Alma Bryant teacher Martin Welch faces attempted murder charge

BAYOU LA BATRE, Al.
A local teacher was arrested Friday after grand jurors indicted him on a charge of attempted murder in a September shooting at his home.

Martin Ervind Welch

Martin Ervind Welch, 35, of Bayou La Batre, was booked into Mobile County Metro Jail shortly before 3 p.m. He was released at 3:06 p.m. with bail set at $25,000, according to jail records.
Welch had been on paid administrative leave from Alma Bryant High in south Mobile County since the shooting, school system spokeswoman Nancy Pierce said. Welch has been employed with the system since 1998, officials have said.
District Attorney Ashley Rich said Friday that the November grand jury returned the indictment last week.
“The victim was an 18-year-old former student,” Rich said, identifying the victim as Kevin Fox, who was living at the house with Welch and Welch’s parents.
Rich said that Fox and Welch “got into an argument and Welch pulled out a gun.”
Bayou La Batre police responded to a home in the Bay Oaks subdivision about 9 p.m. on Sept. 21 and discovered a man shot twice.
Police Detective Scott Dagg said that officers picked up Welch about noon Friday at the house.
If convicted, Welch faces a possible prison sentence of 10 years to life, Rich said.