TUSCALOOSA, AL — A former security guard convicted earlier this year for the fatal 2024 shooting outside of CRU Lounge has been sentenced to 33 years in prison.
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Circuit Judge Allen W. May Jr. handed down the sentence to Aaron Dewayne Hill, a former security guard who was found guilty of murder by a Tuscaloosa County jury in March following a multi-day trial.
As Patch previously reported, jurors determined that Hill intentionally shot and killed 28-year-old Rashid Little during an altercation outside the now-closed hookah lounge in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2024.
Prosecutors argued at trial that the confrontation began inside the business before spilling outside, where Hill fired the fatal shot from close range.
Evidence presented to the jury included surveillance footage, cellphone video and witness testimony, as well as forensic findings linking the victim to the scene.
Hill’s defense team contended that he reacted in a chaotic and volatile situation, but jurors returned a guilty verdict after roughly four hours of deliberation.
As Patch previously reported, CRU Lounge, located off Highway 69 in south Tuscaloosa, later had its business license revoked by city officials in the aftermath of the incident.
It is unclear at this time where Hill will serve out his sentence for the Alabama Department of Corrections.
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