20 shots tore into the rear of a car, killing Alex Shirley and critically injuring his friend Sophie Haggy. Shirley was the son of reality TV personality Ronnie Shirley from the show Lizard Lick Towing. Although Haggy survived, she’s now paralyzed from the waist down. They were loud, chaotic, and absolutely impossible to look away from.
One minute, they were chasing furious debtors down back roads in North Carolina. The next, they were brawling in parking lots while America watched with its jaw on the floor. Lizard Lick Towing wasn’t just a reality show. It was a full-blown spectacle. But then, just like that, it was gone. And what happened after the cameras stopped rolling? Buckle up because the real story is so much wilder than anything that ever aired on truTV.
20-year-old Joshua Stewart pleaded guilty earlier for his part in the shootings back in February of 2022 near Clayton. Five people who were parked at a memorial service for another friend were fired upon from behind by at least two suspects. The show that had America absolutely losing its mind. Let’s rewind to 2011 for a second.
Cable TV was still running the game, and truTV was pumping out these chaotic, can’t look away reality shows that somehow had everyone hooked. And right in the middle of that madness, a couple from a tiny place called Lizard Lick, North Carolina, Ron Shirley and Amy Shirley, who basically took over Monday nights.
Lizard Lick Towing ran for four seasons from 2011 to 2014, racking up 91 episodes of pure, unfiltered chaos. The setup sounded simple. A towing company repossessing vehicles. That’s it. But what played out? Absolute madness. Week after week, Ron, Amy, and their crew, including Bobby Brantley, were out there grabbing cars, bikes, whatever they could, while dealing with people who were not giving those vehicles up quietly.
And that’s where the magic happened. The shouting, the scuffles, the near fights, it felt unpredictable, like anything could pop off at any second. But, it wasn’t just chaos. There was personality. Ron was loud and intimidating, but you could tell he had a heart. Amy, she could calm a situation down or turn it up instantly.
And Bobby, the kind of guy who looked like he was always 2 seconds away from tackling somebody. At its peak, the show was pulling nearly 3 million viewers an episode. That’s huge. This wasn’t just background TV, this was the kind of show people talked about the next day, like it was a live event. It had everything, drama, humor, tension, even those random moments of real emotion.
But, here’s the thing. Shows like that don’t just fade away for no reason. So, what actually brought this wild ride to an end? Hold on. Was any of it even real? Before we get into why the show ended, we need to have the conversation that the internet has been having for years. How much of Lizard Lick Towing was actually, you know, real? Here’s where it gets deliciously complicated.
TruTV’s network didn’t actually list the series as reality TV. The network preferred to refer to it as actuality. Their whole branding at the time was not reality, actuality, which sounds like a very confident way to sidestep a very uncomfortable question. While Lizard Lick Towing was about a real company, many episodes were exaggerated and scripted reenactments of repossessions.
Most storylines were loosely based on real people and things that actually happened, but were scripted and exaggerated to make for more interesting television. So, yes, the company is real. The people are real. The repossessions happened. But, the level of drama you saw on screen dialed up. Way, way up. And, honestly, does that change how we feel about it? For a lot of fans, not really.
The personalities themselves were magnetic enough that even a loose framework of reality gave them room to be completely compelling. Ron Shirley doesn’t need a script to be interesting. The man is naturally a force of nature. Same goes for Amy. Same goes for Bobby. Same goes for every single person in that building.
But, it did create a growing tension both behind the scenes and in the public perception of the show. As reality TV audiences got more savvy, more aware of how these shows were produced, the shine started to wear off. Viewers who had been completely sold on the drama started to question it. And, once you start questioning the authenticity of a show that’s supposed to be authentic, it’s hard to come back from that.
Add to that the fact that the network itself was in a period of transition, shifting its programming strategy, and you’ve got a recipe for something that can’t sustain itself forever. Which brings us to the big question everyone has been asking for over a decade. Why did Lizard Lick Towing actually get canceled? Why did the show really end? All right. Let’s get into it.
Because the rumors about why Lizard Lick Towing ended are all over the place. Some people swear there was some massive behind-the-scenes blowout. Others think the whole thing collapsed in dramatic fashion. But the truth? Way less explosive and way more typical TV business. By the time season 4 hit in 2014, the reality TV space was already shifting.
What worked in 2011 didn’t hit the same anymore. New shows were popping up constantly, all fighting for attention, and networks like truTV started changing direction. In the end, it came down to declining ratings and new priorities. Not scandal, just timing. But there was one big shake-up that fans definitely felt.
Bobby Brantley leaving. Bobby wasn’t just another cast member, he was Ron’s right-hand man, his best friend, the guy who balanced out the whole dynamic. So when he stepped away in 2014 to chase his own business opportunities, it hit hard. And behind the scenes, things weren’t exactly smooth.
Reports pointed to growing tension between him and Ron Shirley, which later spilled into public disagreements after the show ended. And honestly, you could feel the difference. That chemistry, the spark that made everything unpredictable, just wasn’t the same anymore. Then came the final episode on August 18th, 2014, and that was it. No big goodbye.
No emotional send-off. Just quietly gone. like a lot of reality shows tend to be. But, here’s where it gets interesting. Before all the fame, before the chaos, this was just a small-town hustle built from scratch. So, who were Ron and Amy before the cameras ever found them? Before the cameras, the origin story of Ron and Amy.
This is the part people seriously overlook. Because, yeah, Ron Shirley and Amy Shirley became loud, unforgettable TV personalities, but what they built before the cameras? That’s the real story. Ron was born April 12th, 1972 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and his path wasn’t exactly smooth. A college football injury derailed everything, forcing him to pivot fast.
And that pivot? It led him straight into towing in the early ’90s, a world full of adrenaline, tension, and unpredictable confrontations. But, here’s what made Ron different. He didn’t just show up to take cars. He talked to people, negotiated, tried to keep things from blowing up, which is honestly ironic if you’ve seen how chaotic things got on TV.
By 1998, he turned that hustle into something real, launching Lizard Lick Towing with just one truck. No spotlight, no hype, just grind. And over the next decade, that one truck turned into a full fleet, a growing team, and a serious business. That wasn’t luck. That was consistency. And then there’s Amy, and honestly, where do you even start? Calling her just Ron’s wife doesn’t even come close.
She was a record-holding powerlifter, dabbled in MMA, worked as a mortician, and co-ran the business. Read that again. That’s not a reality TV character. That’s a real person. What’s even crazier? They were almost cast on Wife Swap before Lizard Lick Towing ever existed. One day of filming was all it took for producers to realize they had something special.
And off camera, Ron’s also a pastor and co-founder of a ministry helping people through addiction and abuse. So, yeah. The contrast is wild. But with a foundation like that, what about the rest of the crew who made the show unforgettable? The rest of the crew, Bobby, Big Juicy, Crazy Dave, and the gang. All right, let’s do a full rundown because Lizard Lick Towing wasn’t a one-man show.
It was an ensemble, and every single one of those personalities had a life that kept moving after the cameras left. Bobby Brantley, fan favorite, Ron’s best friend, walking chaos machine, had arguably the most dramatic post-show journey of anyone in the cast. After leaving Lizard Lick Towing in 2014, Bobby made an appearance in the Lonesome Curse, and then tried to focus more on his family life.
But life had other plans. In 2019, Bobby was diagnosed with pituitary adenoma, a form of brain tumor. Once it was surgically removed, he moved to Lil Ass Farms with his family to focus on his recovery. A brain tumor. This man went from repossessing vehicles on national television to fighting one of the scariest diagnoses a person can get. And he came through it.
Based in Pilot, North Carolina, Bobby retains his lively demeanor and embraces all the trials and triumphs of life. He and his wife, Melanie, who viewers knew as Cassie on the show, tied the knot after the show ended. Melanie is a gynecologist and TV personality. They have eight children together and still make appearances at fan events alongside the crew.
Let’s talk about Big Juicy, real name Elaine McGillvery, who was the chaotic, hilarious, unshakable front office presence that made every scene she was in 10 times better. Big Juicy kept moving up the success ladder after the show concluded. Despite her tendency to keep her personal and professional life private, it is known she is a loving mother who is committed to raising her three children.
She’s still connected to the Lizard Lick family and makes community appearances when the crew gets together. Then there is Crazy Dave Eckler, the shop mechanic whose unhinged energy was responsible for some of the show’s most memorable moments. Dave is a community enthusiast who has appeared in several social gatherings, including Bobby Brantley’s car show at King’s Auto Corner for Missiles for Christ Ministry.
The music lover sings and writes music and has worked on a musical project dubbed The Rocky Cross Project. He lives in Rocky Cross, North Carolina. Crazy Dave becoming a musician is somehow the most Crazy Dave thing that could possibly happen and we love it. Cousin Johnny, Ron’s cousin, towing assistant, and the man who could not stop causing drama, has taken the most dramatic exit of all from public life.
Johnny has since retired from the public eye and no longer likes to share his personal and professional life. He doesn’t have social media to update his fans, but he continues achieving new life milestones. Sometimes the loudest people on TV become the quietest people in real life. Johnny apparently decided he was done with cameras for good.
And Swirly Earl? Fans of the truTV show will still recognize him listed on the Lizard Lick Towing website as a tow truck driver. Still out there doing his thing. Some things don’t change. But while all of this was happening, the careers, the farms, the music projects, the quiet retirements, the Shirley family was about to face something no television fame could ever prepare them for.
Darkness falls. The tragedy that broke the Shirley family’s heart. There’s no easy way to transition into this part of the story, so we’re just going to be direct. In February 2022, the Lizard Lick Towing family was hit by a tragedy so sudden, so violent, and so devastating that it broke the hearts of everyone who had ever watched that show.
On February 17th, 2022, the Lizard Lick Towing family suffered a great tragedy. Ronnie’s son, Harley Alexander Shirley, was murdered at the age of 21. The incident occurred on February 17th, 2022, following a memorial gathering for a friend who had died in a traffic accident. Deputies responding to multiple reports of gunfire discovered Harley shot in a vehicle at a nearby gas station.
He was there to honor a friend. And he never came home. Then 17-year-old Joshua Stewart and then 16-year-old Nathan Christopher Jackson were charged with firing 20 shots into the back of a parked vehicle killing Harley who was sitting in the backseat. Prosecutors said Harley was the intended target of the shooting.
A 20-year-old woman named Sophie Haggy who was sitting next to Harley was also shot. Sophie Catherine Haggy was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. According to county prosecutors, she was not an intended target. In the aftermath, a GoFundMe created in Sophie’s name raised over $80,000 as the community rallied around her.
Authorities eventually made four arrests in connection with the case. Two teenagers charged with murder and attempted murder and additional adults charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact. A fifth suspect was also identified. The case was massive in scope and heartbreaking in every detail.
The legal proceedings stretched across years. One defendant convicted in 2024 received a 40-year sentence. A rare outcome for a crime involving a juvenile defendant and a fatality. And then in July 2025, justice moved again. Joshua Christopher Stewart, 21 of Willow Spring, was sentenced on July 11th, 2025. He received consecutive sentences of 18 years to 22 years and 8 months and 11 years and 9 months to 15 years and 2 months after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder.
Johnston County District Attorney Jason Waller said his office would continue to prosecute violent crimes to the fullest extent of the law. Adding that their hearts continued to go out to the Shirley family and to Sophie Hoggie’s family. Ron Shirley, in the days after losing his son, did what very few people could do at that moment.
He went to social media, the same place he spent years entertaining millions of people, and he spoke about faith, about grief, about holding on. Ronnie Shirley shared messages of faith and forgiveness, encouraging dialogue about violence and empathy even amid grief. There’s a version of this story where a tragedy, this enormous breaks a person entirely.
And there’s another version, the one that Ron and Amy are actually living in, where you carry the loss with you every single day, and you keep going anyway. So, after everything, the fame, the cancellation, the heartbreak, the legal battles, where does the Lizard Lick Towing story actually stand today? Where are they all now? Here’s the full update.
Here’s the part you came for. After more than a decade since the show ended and after everything that’s happened in between, where is everybody? Let’s start with Ron and Amy, because the answer is actually kind of beautiful in its stubbornness. As of 2025, Ron Helm’s Lizard Lick Towing and Recovery, a fleet of 20 trucks and 15 staff strong, while also leading the Eastern Chapter of Dirt Church as an ordained pastor.
The man literally built his company back to exactly what it was before reality TV ever got involved and he’s been running it without a TV deal every day since 2014. That’s not a comeback. That’s just consistency. Lizard Lick Towing also has its own Tik Tok account where more than a million followers track Ronnie, Amy, and their friends and family.
1 million followers on Tik Tok without a network deal without a production company. Just the two of them, the crew, and the trucks and America is still watching. Amy continues to head Lizard Lick Towing and Recovery as vice president. Also an author, Amy published a cookbook called Gluten-Free in Lizard Lick.
She’s a powerlifting, cookbook writing, business running, dog mom force of nature who describes herself as still got the lick on social media. And honestly there is no better personal brand statement than that. The business itself offers fan-friendly services, video messages, merchandise, say, and even the option of yes, wedding towing because of course they do.
Fans of the truTV show will still recognize staff members listed on the Lizard Lick Towing website including jack-of-all-trades cousin Johnny front office assistant Big Juicy and tow truck driver Swirly Earl. The original crew is still there in some form. The band, improbably, has mostly stayed together. Bobby Brantley is out on his farm in Pilot, North Carolina post brain tumor, post TV career thriving in the chaos of raising eight kids with Melanie while still showing up for fan events with the original crew.
A man who started as a dissatisfied towing customer and became one of reality TV’s most beloved characters is now genuinely a farmer. And somehow that is deeply on brand for him. Crazy Dave is making music in Rocky Cross. Big Juicy is raising her kids and keeping her personal life exactly as private as she wants it.
Cousin Johnny has gone completely off the grid, which is somehow both shocking and completely believable. And the Shirley family continues to honor Harley’s memory, maintaining the legacy of their business as a reminder that reality TV personas are grounded in real lives, struggles, and losses. The show may be over.
The cameras are long gone, but Lizard Lick Towing, the actual business, the actual people, the actual story, is still very much alive. And in a media landscape where reality TV stars tend to either flame out spectacularly or disappear completely, there’s something quietly remarkable about a couple from a tiny North Carolina community who just kept going.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the full, unfiltered, absolutely wild story of Lizard Lick Towing. From one beat-up truck in 1998 to a true TV phenomenon, to heartbreak, to a TikTok comeback with a million followers. Ron and Amy Shirley didn’t need Hollywood to write their story. Life did it for them.
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