Police Arrest Tuscaloosa Man Accused of Murdering Woman in Front of Their Kids

Police in Tuscaloosa have charged a local man with capital murder after he allegedly shot and killed a woman in front of their children on New Year's Eve Tuesday.

Captain Marty Sellers, the co-commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, said officers were called to the 3400 block of Joyce Lewis Lane in west Tuscaloosa and found 34-year-old Brittany Bolden shot and killed.

They were dispatched around 8:30 p.m., Sellers said.

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Police were first told that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, but the VCU began an investigation and found cause to charge Bolden's boyfriend with capital murder for her slaying.

Lovelle Rodgers, also 34 years old, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder and has been booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond.

Rodgers "had domestic violence issues in the past" with the victim, Sellers said, and the couple’s children were present at the time of the murder, which led to the upgrade to the capital charge.

Capital murder suspects can be held without bond indefinitely and if convicted, face the possibility of the death penalty or life without parole in prison.

It was the 22nd and final homicide in Tuscaloosa in 2024, the highest number in modern history, and the 29th in Tuscaloosa County, which ties a record high set in 1975.

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