Grand Jury Rejects Self-Defense Claim, Indicts Man for August Murder in Tuscaloosa

A grand jury in Tuscaloosa has rejected a man's claim that a deadly August shooting was a matter of self-defense and charged him with murder.

As the Thread previously reported, an adult man was critically wounded when he was shot at Water Oak Apartments on Hargrove Road East on August 24th of this year - the 16th of 19 homicides in the county so far in 2023.

Get our free mobile app

A second man stayed on the scene and told police he'd been involved in the shooting, and investigators opted not to arrest him that night.

Instead, they gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses, and according to court documents filed Monday morning, a secret grand jury assembled recently to decide whether the homicide warranted criminal charges.

Without detailing the investigative information they considered, the grand jury opted to indict and charge the surviving man with murder.

According to the indictment, the victim was 33-year-old Flando Ledale Crowell, and the murder suspect is Jaterrious Deshawn Hughes. Court records say Hughes is a 28-year-old from Carrollton, Alabama.

Captain Jack Kennedy, the commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, said the indictment comes after the grand jury considered the totality of the relevant circumstances.

After the indictment, a writ was issued for Hughes' arrest and records say he was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail this Saturday.

Hughes has since been released on a bond that was set at $50,000..