On the evening of September 24, 2023, Demetrius Damon Windham, a 24-year-old male, was fatally shot in an ambush as he left his residence on Northwood Lake Drive West in Northport, Alabama. The shooting occurred around 7:15 p.m., and when Northport police officers arrived at the scene, they found Windham already deceased. Investigators with the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit quickly determined that the killing was a targeted attack, not a random act of violence.
Evidence from the scene, including surveillance footage and witness statements, suggested that the assailants had been lying in wait for Windham.
The investigation into Windham's death was a top priority for the Violent Crimes Unit. Their efforts led them to identify two men from Birmingham as the primary suspects. Two weeks after the shooting, in October 2023, authorities arrested 40-year-old Antwaun Dewayne Pledger-Payton and charged him with murder. At the time of his arrest, investigators announced that they were actively searching for a second person of interest.
The search for the second suspect continued for months. Investigators identified the other individual involved as 39-year-old George La Darius Warren. With pressure mounting from local law enforcement and U.S. Marshals, Warren ultimately surrendered to authorities at the Tuscaloosa County Jail in July 2024. He was subsequently charged with murder in connection with Demetrius Windham's death. With Warren's arrest, police stated that they did not believe any other suspects remained at large in the case.
