New Judge, Trial Date For Man Charged With 2020 Killing Of Indiana Teen In Downtown Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A new judge will preside over the murder trial of a California man accused of shooting and killing an Indiana teenager in the fall of 2020 during a fight in downtown Tuscaloosa.

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As Patch previously reported, 19-year-old Schuyler Bradley was shot 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.

The trial date was initially set for January of this year, with Circuit Court Judge Brad Almond presiding over the case. However, Judge Almond officially retired in December and the case has since been transferred across the hall to Circuit Court Judge Al May.

Jury selection is tentatively scheduled to begin May 11.

Profozich is represented by Tuscaloosa defense attorneys Joel Sogol and Mary Turner, along with Birmingham's Steve Salter.

Profozich has been a free man since the fatal shooting and after his bond was set at $150,000 on the single murder charge.

Bradley, an informatics major at Indiana University and a member of IU’s Acacia Fraternity at the time of his death, had been in Alabama visiting friends and planning to attend the Crimson Tide's highly anticipated football matchup with Georgia.

As Patch previously reported, a civil suit that has since been settled in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court provides additional insight into the hours leading up to the shooting.

The civil suit against Profozich and The Bear Trap says that on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, Profozich was present at the popular college bar between 5:25 p.m. and 8:11 p.m.

There is a half-hour gap in the timeline before Profozich was reportedly seen again in the bar from 8:44 p.m. until 1:13 a.m. the next morning.

The civil suit goes on to allege that Profozich consumed alcohol at The Bear Trap for a total of seven hours and 15 minutes. In the civil suit, attorneys for Bradley's mother argued that The Bear Trap had continued to serve Profozich well after it was visibly apparent that he was intoxicated.

Profozich is then said to have left The Bear Trap at or around 1:13 a.m., making his way west for roughly half a mile down University Boulevard in the direction of downtown Tuscaloosa.

Profozich was accompanied by another individual who has not been charged and, a little more than 15 minutes later, the two men made contact with Bradley and two of his friends on the sidewalk opposite the University Club.

According to a deposition and charge sheet, an altercation ensued that resulted in Profozich shooting Bradley in the stomach with a .357 revolver around 1:38 a.m.

Investigators later claimed that Profozich and the other man could both be seen in a surveillance video running from the scene after Bradley fell to the ground next to his two friends.

He died a short time later at DCH Regional Medical Center.

The case has since drawn headlines for several reasons, namely for bond being granted for Profozich and the extended timeline for the case to make its way to trial.

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