In the pre-dawn hours of July 6, 2020, the life of 27-year-old Tanisha Pughsley, a dedicated female detective with the Montgomery Police Department, was tragically cut short in her own home. A native of Chicago who had made Alabama her home after graduating from Alabama State University with a degree in criminal justice, Pughsley had served on the police force for four years. She was off-duty when the events that led to her death unfolded in what should have been the safety of her residence on Overview Drive.
The perpetrator was her ex-boyfriend, 24-year-old Brandon Deshawn Webster. In the weeks leading up to the fatal encounter, Pughsley had sought and been granted a protective order against him, citing a pattern of abuse and stalking. Court records revealed her harrowing accounts of his behavior, including a physical assault while she was holding her infant godchild, threatening text messages, and his continued, unwelcome appearances at her home. Despite her request for the court to force Webster to surrender his firearms, that specific provision was not included in the granted order.
In a violent violation of the protective order, Webster forced his way into Pughsley's home armed with an AR-style rifle. Another man, Jeremy Terrell Walker, was also in the house at the time. Webster opened fire, shooting at Walker, who managed to escape. During the chaos, Webster shot Pughsley in the chest. When police and paramedics arrived around 2:15 a.m., they found Pughsley with a fatal gunshot wound and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Webster fled but was quickly identified as the suspect and apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was charged with two counts of capital murder—one for the murder itself and another for committing it during a burglary—and attempted murder for firing at Walker. In August 2023, a jury found Brandon Webster guilty on two counts of capital murder and one count of attempted assault. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
