In the fall of 2020, Schuyler Donta Bradley, a 19-year-old male student from Indiana University, traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a weekend visit with friends. The trip was planned around attending a highly anticipated football game between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia. Bradley, a graduate of Carmel High School and a member of the Acacia fraternity, was studying informatics and was known by friends and family as a loyal and loving young man who was quick to defend
others.
In the early morning hours of October 16, 2020, on a sidewalk along the 1700 block of University Boulevard, an area known as 'The Strip,' Bradley and his friends had a chance encounter with another group. An argument broke out, and according to his friends, Bradley was attempting to de-escalate the situation. During the altercation, a man named Zachary Profozich, then 22 years old, pulled out a. 357 revolver and shot the unarmed Bradley in the abdomen. Bradley was rushed to DCH Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He was placed on life support, but his injuries were too severe. After being resuscitated twice, which led to brain damage and organ failure, his family made the difficult decision to remove him from life support. Schuyler Bradley died on October 17, 2020.
Zachary Profozich was quickly identified and arrested by the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit. He was initially charged with attempted murder, but the charge was upgraded to murder following Bradley's death. Profozich was released from jail after posting a $150,000 bond. Shortly after his release, the court granted his request to move from Alabama and live with his parents in Orange County, California, while awaiting trial.
The legal proceedings in the case have moved slowly, causing significant frustration for Bradley's family, who feel that justice has been stalled. Four years after the fatal shooting, the case had still not gone to trial. The delays have been attributed to the backlogged court system. A trial date has now been set for January 2026, nearly six years after Schuyler Bradley's death. Profozich remains out on bond in California pending the trial.
