In the quiet community of Hazel Green, Alabama, the life of 59-year-old Gary Wayne Kay, a white male, was abruptly ended in a violent encounter at his residence. On the evening of Thursday, December 21, 2017, deputies from the Madison County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the vicinity of West Limestone Road following reports of gunshots. Their investigation led them to a home at 120 Brier Fork Road, where they discovered Mr. Kay deceased, having sustained at least one gunshot wound.
The subsequent investigation into the death of Gary Wayne Kay swiftly progressed, leading authorities to two individuals. The investigative trail brought law enforcement to the Rime Village Apartments, where the Madison County SWAT Team was deployed to apprehend the suspects. Aron Shine Gordon, a 22-year-old Black male, and Rebekah Jo Barefield, a 33-year-old white female, were taken into custody without incident. The nature of the relationship between the suspects and the victim, as well as a definitive motive for the crime, were not immediately made public as the investigation continued.
Following their apprehension, both Aron Shine Gordon and Rebekah Jo Barefield faced serious charges in connection with Gary Wayne Kay's death. Gordon was charged with Capital Murder and first-degree Burglary, and was held without bond. Barefield was charged with Murder, with her bond set at $75,000. The arrests brought a swift, though somber, development to a case that had shaken the Hazel Green community.
