Court Documents Allege Cookout Guest Killed Tuscaloosa Man With Brick

A Tuscaloosa man has been charged with murder after investigators say surveillance footage, witness accounts and physical evidence placed him at the scene of a brutal killing at Brookhaven Apartments on Saturday.

Anthony Markeith Jones, 47, was arrested and committed to the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond under Aniah's Law following the death of Marshall Holifield, 67, who was found unresponsive in his apartment on James I Harrison Jr. Parkway on Saturday.

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According to a deposition filed Tuesday in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, Violent Crimes Unit investigators found Holifield on his couch with what appeared to be major blunt force injuries to his head and face.

A red brick was recovered submerged in water in the victim's bathtub and is likely the murder weapon - investigators also reportedly documented cuts on Jones' hand consistent with holding a brick.

Witnesses who had attended a cookout hosted by Holifield identified a man known as "Red" as behaving strangely during the gathering, with one witness saying Red had been waving a large machete at some point during the evening.

Investigators matched a description to Jones, and surveillance footage from the complex showed an individual matching Jones' physical description entering and exiting Holifield's apartment in the early morning hours of July 18. The footage appeared to show him using his shirt to open the front door, documents allege.

Investigators determined Jones was the only person to enter or exit the apartment before patrol officers arrived.

Investigators also learned Holifield's cellphone had gone missing and was used after his death to contact individuals allegedly associated with Jones.

When Jones was brought in for questioning on July 19, he allegedly confirmed he had been at Holifield's apartment for the cookout.

He was arrested and charged with murder as well as one charge for illegally possessing a firearm.

For more exclusive coverage of crime and courts in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.