A former U.S. Marine charged with conducting a mass shooting at a North Carolina restaurant on September 27, 2025, was the same man who accompanied former “American Idol” star, “Dancing With the Stars” champion, and Hallmark actress Kellie Pickler to the CMT Music Awards in 2012, according to TMZ.
As a thank you for his service, Picker took Retired Sergeant Sean DeBevoise to the awards show, where they walked the red carpet with his service dog Rusty. But in 2023, per TMZ, DeBevoise changed his name to Nigel Edge — the person now charged in the tragedy that killed three and injured eight at the American Fish Company saloon in Southport.
In another bizarre layer to the story, TMZ reported that in early 2025, Edge, now 40, filed a lawsuit against Pickler, accusing her of trying to poison him when they attended the CMT Awards together.
Former Marine Called Kellie Pickler an ‘Angel’ in 2012, But Filed Lawsuit Against Her in 2025
GettyBefore the CMT Awards, Pickler met the Marine at a North Carolina charity event honoring members of the military, according to the New York Post. He then invited her to attend the “Hope For Our Heroes, Got Heart, Give Hope Gala,” Taste of Country reported at the time, but Pickler was heading to perform on her fifth USO tour. Since she couldn’t attend the event, she invited him to accompany her to the CMT Awards instead.
At the awards show, Edge (formerly DeBovoise) told Taste of Country that he’d been severely wounded during a 2006 deployment to Iraq and added, “I am esctatic about being here at the CMT Music Awards with Kellie, even more to consider her a friend. She is the most sincere person I know. She is an angel.”
But according to documents obtained by TMZ, Edge filed a lawsuit in February 2025 that accused Pickler of trying to kill him at the awards show by putting poison in his Jim Beam whiskey. He claimed he never drank the beverage that he claimed Pickler handed to him.
Representatives for Pickler have not addressed or responded to inquiries about the lawsuit, but it’s not the only eyebrow-raising legal action Edge has taken in the last year. According to the New York Post, Edge has also filed lawsuits alleging that “LGBTQ White Supremacists” and pedophiles were trying to kill him because he is straight.
Edge is due in court on September 29 to face multiple charges in the fatal shooting at American Fish Company, per NBC News. After fleeing on a boat, he was detained by the Coast Guard, the outlet reported, and is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Kellie Pickler Has Dealt With Other Lawsuits Since the Death of Her Husband
GettyPickler was a fan favorite on “American Idol” in 2006, with her country twang and quirky personality. She placed sixth on the show that year, but went on to co-host her own talk show, win season 16 of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2013, and star in three Hallmark movies — 2018’s “Christmas at Graceland,” and 2019’s “Wedding at Graceland” and “The Mistletoe Secret.”
However, Pickler has remained mostly out of the public eye since the February 2023 death of her husband Kyle Jacobs, which was ruled a suicide, according to Us Weekly. The outlet reported that the couple began dating in 2008 and married in 2011.
But Jacob’s parents have since filed court documents demanding that Pickler give them items that they claim belong “indisputably to the estate,” according to Taste of Country, including an extensive gun collection, a sword, expensive watches and guitars, baseball card albums, school awards, a viola and a grand piano, plus Jacobs’ work laptop, iPhone and hard drives.
As recently as March 2025, they asked a judge to find Pickler in contempt of court, claiming she has refused to comply, the outlet reported. But Pickler’s lawyers have asked that the case be dismissed because she either doesn’t have the items or claims they belong to her.
She tried to poison me as well. I was running a marathon and I saw her dump what appeared to be a white powder in the drink that she was handing out. It didn’t look like electrolyte powder so I took a hard pass.