In the late afternoon of May 11, 2014, a violent encounter at the intersection of Pointer and Setter Roads in Mobile, Alabama, ended the life of 20-year-old Zachary Scott Alston. Mobile Police responded to a report of a person shot in a vehicle at approximately 3:50 p.m. and discovered Alston with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the death of the young man quickly pointed to a suspect. Arlando Raeshun Nichols, who was 21 at the time, was identified as the individual who had intentionally shot and killed Alston. The motive behind the shooting was determined to be a personal dispute between the two men concerning an ex-girlfriend of Alston's. In the aftermath of the shooting, Nichols fled the area in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
A coordinated effort by law enforcement tracked Nichols to the Atlanta, Georgia, area. The U.S. Marshals took him into custody without any further incident, bringing the search for Alston's killer to a swift conclusion. Following his arrest and extradition, Nichols faced legal proceedings in Mobile County. In December 2015, he was convicted for the murder of Zachary Alston. The court sentenced him to life in prison for the crime. Nichols later appealed his conviction, but the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the original verdict in a decision announced on February 3, 2017, ensuring he would serve his life sentence.
