Woman Charged After Man Killed, Infant Injured In Shooting

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa woman is facing capital murder and other charges after police say she shot and killed a man holding her infant child — a 2-month-old girl who is in critical condition after also being shot during the altercation Sunday morning.

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The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit says sheriff's deputies responded to a residence in the 4400 block of 20th Street NE Sunday morning at approximately 9:15 a.m., where they found 53-year-old Willie Haywood Jr. dead of a gunshot wound.

Deputies also found the infant had also been shot and was still alive.

The child's mother, Lashana Henderson, 25, was then detained and informed investigators that she had been engaged in a domestic argument with Haywood and shot at him with a pistol while he was holding the infant. Both were struck, with the child being transported to Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where she remains in critical condition.

The child and Haywood were both struck by gunfire, resulting in the elder victim dying of his injuries. The infant was transported to Children’s Hospital and is in critical condition.

Warrants were obtained and Henderson was charged with capital murder for Haywood's death, with the enhancement being the result of Haywood being killed in the presence of a child for which he was a parent or legal guardian under the age of 14.

She was also charged with 1st degree domestic violence, also a felony, for causing serious injuries to her child by means of a deadly weapon. Henderson was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail with no bond on the capital murder charge, in addition to $60,000 on the felony domestic violence/assault charge.

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