Teen charged in Tuscaloosa homicide
TUSCALOOSA, AL (WBRC) - Tuscaloosa authorities have arrested an 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting a man on Sunday night.
Brelin Gage McAlpine is charged with the murder of Stephen Gaines, 29.
Investigators interviewed several witnesses and are still trying to track down other potential witnesses to the shooting, Lt. Kip Hart with the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit said on Monday evening.
McAlpine is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on a $75,000 bond.
The fatal shooting happened in the 3000 block of 41st Avenue around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.
Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide investigators said Gaines was at his home when his girlfriend and her friend came to visit. Gaines and his girlfriend had a verbal fight which then turned physical outside of the home.
Gaines went back inside the home and came out with a gun, according to investigators. As his girlfriend drove away, he fired one shot that hit the passenger's side mirror.
According to witnesses, about an hour later, two men and two women arrived at the residence. A verbal altercation ensued between Gaines and the men.
Police said one of the men pulled a gun and shot Gaines twice.
Gaines was taken to DCH Tuscaloosa where he was pronounced dead.
Gaines' next-door neighbor said losing him to violence felt like losing a fellow veteran on the battlefield.
"I came home to rest, not to come to a war zone. I can imagine what they're going through. It's hard when you lose someone that close. It feels like I lost one of the comrades that fought with me everyday cause everyday I saw him," Jammie Jones said.
Investigators haven't said whether or not Gaines' shooting was in retaliation for shooting at his girlfriend.
Neighbors said they were worried about the potential for more shootings in the neighborhood.
Tuscaloosa police were on patrol in the neighborhood on Monday morning.
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