In the summer of 2017, a visit to her father in Jemison, Alabama, took a tragic turn for a young woman from Mobile. Marsha Jasmine Westbrook, a 22-year-old female, was fatally shot on the evening of July 24, 2017, at a local gas station. The incident that cut her life short stemmed from a dispute that escalated to violence, leaving a family and community in mourning.
The events of that fateful Monday unfolded at the Citgo gas station on County Road 42. Westbrook was present with her boyfriend when an argument broke out with another man, identified as 22-year-old Derrious Lemarkies Scott of Selma. According to authorities, the confrontation between Westbrook's boyfriend and Scott intensified, leading Scott to retrieve a handgun from his vehicle. He then fired a single shot, which tragically struck Westbrook in the chest. Despite being rushed to a nearby hospital, she succumbed to her injuries.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement launched a search for the suspect. The following day, on July 25, 2017, Derrious Lemarkies Scott was apprehended in Selma and taken into custody. He was subsequently charged with the murder of Marsha Westbrook and held at the Chilton County Jail. The investigation suggested that the initial argument was not with Westbrook herself, but with her boyfriend.
Following his arrest, the legal process began for Scott. In October 2018, a Chilton County grand jury indicted him on the murder charge. After a trial in which the details of the deadly encounter were presented, a jury found Derrious Scott guilty of reckless manslaughter in October 2019. In December of that same year, a circuit court judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison for his role in the death of Marsha Westbrook.
