Gerald Westry, a 40-year-old Black man, was killed on the night of February 9, 2016, inside the Family Dollar store at 1300 Spring Hill Avenue near North Ann Street in Mobile, Alabama. It was Fat Tuesday, and the city had already spent the day in the churn of Mardi Gras parades and crowds, but the celebration had thinned by the time the shooting happened.
Sometime around 9 p.m., a confrontation erupted inside the store, turning a routine shift into a scene of sudden violence.
Investigators quickly focused on what happened in those moments behind the doors. Surveillance video was reported to show an argument between two men, with the dispute escalating until Westry was shot multiple times. Early information from police suggested the killing did not unfold like a typical holdup: no robbery charge was filed at the time, authorities said no money was taken, and the gunfire was not reported to have occurred at the cash register. As detectives reviewed video and worked through witness interviews, they also tried to understand why Westry had been targeted at all.
Two days later, on February 11, police arrested 20-year-old Ashton Garner and charged him with murder. Reports indicated that investigators believed the surveillance footage tied Garner to the shooting, and police also said the two men had lived together, though the nature of their relationship—and what may have fueled the conflict—was unclear in the immediate aftermath. As he was taken into custody, Garner maintained that video would prove he was innocent, while police offered little detail beyond saying their investigation connected him to the homicide.
In the court process that followed the arrest, bond was set at $100,000 with a cash requirement, and the defense raised concerns about Garner’s mental health. At the time, he remained jailed while awaiting his next court date in Mobile County District Court. Public reporting available on the case centers largely on the shooting, the surveillance video, and the arrest; beyond those early stages, accessible coverage does not consistently document later outcomes such as a trial, plea, or conviction.
