Stephanie Brooke Alderson, a 38-year-old White/Caucasian woman, was killed in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 11, 2023. At approximately 3:21 that afternoon, Atlanta police officers were dispatched to 985 Cox Avenue SW in the Capitol View area after receiving a report of a person who had been shot. The location was described in news reports as a trucking or towing lot in an industrial section of southwest Atlanta.
When officers arrived, they found Alderson suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.
The circumstances surrounding the discovery initially offered few public clues about what had happened. Atlanta Police Department homicide investigators responded and began working to reconstruct the events leading to Alderson's death. Authorities did not immediately identify a suspect or release information about a possible motive. As the investigation developed, however, investigators came to believe that the vehicle connected to the discovery had been moved after the shooting and that Alderson's body had been deliberately concealed inside it.
The first arrest publicly reported in the case involved Andrew Fike. Fike was charged with concealing the death of another person and felony tampering with evidence. According to allegations contained in an arrest warrant, investigators believed Fike had been present when the shooting occurred and knew that a vehicle damaged during the criminal act would constitute evidence. Authorities alleged that he removed and concealed that vehicle, placed Alderson's body inside the passenger compartment, and ultimately abandoned the vehicle in a remote location without notifying law enforcement that she had died. The allegations suggested that investigators viewed Fike's conduct as an effort to interfere with the crime scene and conceal evidence connected to the killing.
The investigation later led police to Nathaniel Chastain, who was accused of being responsible for the fatal shooting itself. Atlanta police announced in February 2024 that Chastain had been arrested in Clayton County with assistance from the Georgia State Patrol and the Atlanta Police Department's air unit. He was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with Alderson's death. Police identified him as the second person arrested in the case, distinguishing his alleged role in the shooting from the concealment and evidence-related accusations initially filed against Fike.
Investigators have not publicly disclosed a detailed account explaining what led to the confrontation, what relationship Alderson may have had with the men, or a confirmed motive for the shooting. The available reporting establishes that police ultimately treated Chastain as the alleged killer while accusing Fike of actions surrounding the concealment of Alderson's body and evidence after the shooting. The publicly available news coverage reviewed for the case documents the arrests and criminal charges but does not establish a subsequent trial verdict or conviction in Alderson's homicide.
