Accused Southport Shooter Was Kellie Pickler’s Former Date to CMT Music Awards

The former Marine accused of opening fire on a dockside restaurant in Southport, North Carolina, over the weekend had previously accompanied country singer Kelly Pickler as a date to the CMT Music Awards in 2012.

As the celebrity.land uncovered, Nigel Edge, who changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023, appeared in his Marine uniform and walked the CMT’s red carpet with Pickler and his service dog, Rusty. “I am ecstatic about being here at the CMT Music Awards with Kellie, even more to consider her a friend,” he said at the time (via Taste of Country). “She is the most sincere person I know. She is an angel.” The pair apparently met at a charity event for wounded soldiers.

Earlier this year, Edge sued Pickler, claiming that she tried to kill him with a poison-laced glass of whiskey at the CMTs.

A representative for Pickler did not respond to the celebrity.land’s request for comment. The singer has also largely ceased using social media in recent years.

Edge allegedly suffers from severe PTSD after sustaining severe injuries while deployed in Iraq. He now faces three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon after opening fire at the American Fish Company restaurant in Southport Yacht Basin on Saturday, leaving three people dead and five others injured.