Fayette Man Charged with Thursday Murder in Pickens County

A West Alabama man has been located, arrested and charged with murder in the wake of a fatal shooting outside Reform Thursday.

According to a post from the Pickens County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a shooting on Water Mill Road, which is north of Reform near the Palmetto community and about 40 miles northwest of Tuscaloosa.

There, they found a man who had been shot and fatally wounded.

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The dispatchers who took calls about the shooting collaborated well with the deputies investigating it, the sheriff's office said, and they were able to quickly share a description of the suspect's vehicle with neighboring police agencies.

15 minutes later, a sheriff's deputy in Lamar County spotted Russell Douglas Beede driving a vehicle matching that description at a high rate of speed and crashing.

Beede was taken into custody and ultimately charged with murder. He was booked in the Pickens County Jail, where he remains Friday.

"This incident demonstrates effective collaboration between multiple agencies and dispatch in resolving a homicide," the sheriff's office said on Facebook. "Thanks to the Lamar County Sheriff's Office, Millport Police, law enforcement in Pickens County, the 24th Judicial Circuit Investigator, and Pickens County dispatch for their diligent effort."

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