Suspect in 2020 Tuscaloosa Murder Seeks New Venue As Trial Nears

A man accused of fatally shooting a football fan near the Strip more than five years ago is requesting a change of venue as his murder trial approaches, arguing that media coverage of the case has made Tuscaloosa County “a toxic venue.”

As the Thread has previously reported, now 27-year-old Zachary Profozich was 22 when he reportedly shot 19-year-old Schuyler Bradley after their friend groups got into an argument while walking on University Boulevard near the western edge of the Strip in October 2020.

Get our free mobile app

Bradley was a 19-year-old Indiana University student visiting to watch Alabama take on the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium later that weekend. Profozich told police he thought Bradley was drawing a weapon of his own when he shot him in the abdomen with a .357 revolver.

Profozich reportedly fled the scene and ditched the weapon, and Bradley was rushed to the hospital but did not survive his injuries.

Profozich was charged with murder, but was released on bond and soon after, District Judge James Gentry granted a motion allowing him to leave Tuscaloosa and move in with his parents in California until the case goes to trial. That was more than five years ago.

Bradley’s mother, Daphne Groff, has been vocal about her long wait for justice and has been quoted in the Tuscaloosa Thread and many other outlets, calling for the trial to finally begin.

After one circuit judge recused himself from hearing the case and another retired before it went to trial, Circuit Judge Allen May got the case earlier this year and has set it for jury trial on May 11th.

Now, as that date approaches, Profozich’s lead defense attorney, Mary Turner, is seeking a change of venue, which would further delay the trial.

Turner had already sought and obtained a gag order from Judge May, preventing Groff and other members of Bradley’s family from speaking to the press about the case, but argued in a new motion that the cat is out of the bag and that the trial needs to be relocated to ensure jury impartiality.

“The Defendant does not seek to silence a grieving family. However, the Defendant DOES seek to prevent the intentional use of this Court’s instructions to spark a racial, social, and professional firestorm that ensures a fair trial is impossible in Tuscaloosa County,” Turner wrote in a motion for a new venue. "Within hours of this Court’s instruction to the State, the deceased’s family and local influencers began a campaign to frame the legal process as a “cover-up” fueled by “white privilege” and “thrown money.”

Turner said reporting on the gag order has drawn even more attention to the case, and friends of the family have posted on social media about speaking on their behalf to get around the judge’s order.

She said someone who has commented on coverage of the case is “a known harasser” of the courts who is now “fixated” on this trial, and could be a direct threat to her safety.

Turner also noted that the President of the Tuscaloosa Chapter of the NAACP, Lisa Young, had commented on social media, saying the gag order did not apply to her.

“A formal gag order at this stage is futile; the ‘alarm’ has been sounded. The narrative of a ‘money-driven cover-up’ involving ‘white privilege’ is now pervasive in the local community,” Turner wrote. “The involvement of the NAACP President, Lisa Young, and a known harasser proves that community ‘proxies’ are already in place to bypass any restrictions on the family.”

Turner is asking May to consider changing the venue out of Tuscaloosa County, arguing that the attention this case has already drawn and the community commentary on it will not allow for a fair trial.

“The Defendant asserts that the cumulative effect of this toxicity has rendered Tuscaloosa County a toxic venue,” Turner wrote. “A fair trial by an impartial jury, free from fear of reprisal or bias, is no longer possible in this jurisdiction.”

Judge May has set a pre-trial hearing on May 7th to discuss all motions before him.

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