On a cold February evening in Tuscumbia, Alabama, the lives of three young men were irrevocably altered by a burst of gunfire. The date was February 13, 2019, and for 19-year-old Alontae Nalls, it would be his last. A Black male and a recent graduate of Deshler High School, Nalls was known for his love of basketball and football.
That night, a 911 call reporting a wrecked vehicle brought authorities to the vicinity of East 10th Street and South East Street.
Inside the car, they discovered Gavin Cole, also 19, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. A third individual, Reginald Thompson, was also found with a gunshot wound and was transported to a hospital in Birmingham for surgery.
A short distance from the vehicle, in a wooded area near the Willie Green Recreational Center, law enforcement made a grim discovery: the body of Alontae Nalls. He, too, had been shot. Investigators determined that the wrecked car belonged to Nalls. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, and authorities began the arduous task of piecing together the events of that tragic night.
In the days that followed, the community mourned the loss of two of its young members. Friends and family remembered Alontae Nalls as a vibrant young man with a promising future. However, despite the ongoing investigation, information regarding any arrests or the identification of any suspects in the deaths of Alontae Nalls and Gavin Cole has not been publicly released. The case has left a lingering question in the community, with the motive behind the violence remaining unknown.
