Defendant Takes Stand In Murder Trial For 2020 Shooting; Jury To Begin Deliberations Thursday

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Both sides rested Wednesday after a man accused of killing an Indiana teenager in a 2020 shooting took the witness stand to testify.

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As Patch previously reported, 19-year-old Schuyler Bradley was fatally shot in the stomach during an altercation in the early morning hours of Oct. 16, 2020, and Zachary Profozich, who was 22 at the time, was charged with his murder after first being jailed for attempted murder in the immediate aftermath.

Jurors heard extensive witness testimony Tuesday from those who were present during the shooting, while also being presented substantial video evidence showing the moments leading up to and immediately after the lone shot was fired.

Prior to Profozich taking the stand Wednesday, jurors first heard from Damon Cooper, a forensic scientist with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, who confirmed that the bullet removed from Bradley's body during his autopsy was fired from the Ruger .357 belonging to Profozich that was later recovered by investigators.

Dr. Edward A. Reedy, the chief medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, also testified that the bullet passed through Bradley's liver, lumbar vertebrae and spinal canal before lodging into muscle tissue in his back.

What's more, Reedy went on to say that if Bradley had possessed any forward momentum, as was claimed by the defense and Profozich, that he would have continued forward after being shot instead of falling flat on his back

This and other testimony by Dr. Reedy seemed to undermine the defense's position that Profozich believed Bradley was slightly crouched and possibly reaching for a gun in the back of his waistband.

The prosecution rested after briefly questioning the lead investigator on the case, who showed the .357 to the jury, along with Bradley's shirt and a bag of Flamin' Hot Funyuns that had been in Bradley's possession at the time of the shooting.

Profozich was the first witness called to the stand by defense attorney Mary Turner and provided a timeline of events similar to that already established by the prosecution.

As Patch previously reported, Profozich and his friend — Griffin Ridgeway — had spent the evening drinking and social at the Bear Trap on the Tuscaloosa Strip, before returning to Profozich's apartment, where he got his handgun.

"We were going out late at night and I wanted it if we were going to walk a long distance at night," the defendant testified.

It was also mentioned during testimony Tuesday that after going back to Bear Trap for a few more hours, Profozich and Ridgeway set out on foot to meet at friend at Roxy's bar in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Profozich said as they walked westbound down the sidewalk along University Boulevard, Bradley and his two friends nearly forced them off the sidewalk when the two groups met, with Profozich saying it forced him to walk "single file" behind Ridgeway to make room for the other group.

He also contradicted previous testimony from other witnesses by saying he never saw the "shoulder check" that supposedly sparked the altercation.

At around 40 feet away, Profozich said the other group began to scream at Ridgeway and call them derogatory names Tuscaloosa Patch has chosen to not publish.

Profozich said he responded by saying, "I don't know what you guys are on about but you need to get your shit together. ... It was the most belligerent behavior you could imagine. They just kept yelling and I turned around and began to leave."

Turner then asked her client why he chose to stay.

He responded by saying that as he turned around, Bradley yelled at him: "Fuck you. I'll beat the shit out of you. I'll fucking kill you."

Profozich said he then walked up to Bradley, who reacted by shoving him hard enough that the defendant's "feet came off the ground."

"I wanted the whole situation to just stop," he testified. "I backed up and said 'stop.' I was terrified. He made me feel like I weighed nothing."

Profozich then became emotional when he recalled removing his handgun from his waistband in the hopes of de-escalating the situation. He testified that Bradley said, "boy, that's just a fucking BB gun," before bending forward slightly, as if to go for a weapon in his own waistband.

"I reacted to it and I shot him," he said. "I was just reacting to the motion he made with his hand."

Some of the testimony on Tuesday also focused on Profozich calmly walking away after firing the fatal shot, something the defendant admitted to on the stand Wednesday but a detail he did not clearly remember.

Profozich later testified that after losing sight of Ridgeway and leaving his handgun in the backyard of the residence where the shooting had occurred out front, he found his way to the Publix parking lot on The Strip.

He then said he called a lawyer, who eventually told him later in the morning to go home and sleep it off before making any other decisions.

"I went home," Profozich said. "I cried and prayed [Bradley] would be okay."

Profozich said he "freaked out," until finally "crashing" shortly before police showed up to charge him with attempted murder. He would bond out shortly after being charged but was taken back into custody and charged with murder after Bradley succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 17.

During cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Marshall, Profozich was questioned about being pushed by Bradley prior to the shooting, before being shown video of Bradley falling flat on his back after being shot.

Both sides will present closing arguments Thursday morning in Circuit Judge Allen W. May's courtroom before the jury begins deliberations.

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