$5,000 Reward Still Available 3 Years After Unsolved Murder of Tuscaloosa Woman

Investigators are still looking for answers three years after the still-unsolved murder of Zakia Bibbs, a Tuscaloosa woman who was gunned down in July 2019 in what may have been a road rage attack.

For those unfamiliar with the case, Zakia Bibbs and several others were riding in a Ford Focus on Interstate 20/59 late at night on July 5th, 2019, headed northeast toward the Jefferson County line.

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Investigators said an SUV, maybe a Nissan Pathfinder, approached the Focus with its high beams on, passed their car then deliberately slowed down.

Police believe the two vehicles passed each other several times before they ended up parallel to one another on the interstate,

Someone in the SUV pulled out a gun and opened fire on the Ford Focus, and several of the occupants within were struck by bullets, including Bibbs.

When the victims were finally able to get off the highway at Exit 97, they found Bibbs had died.

The case has proven to be a forensic nightmare for the multi-agency Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, which investigates all homicides in the county. A late-night shooting from one moving vehicle into another, on the interstate, on a holiday weekend in the relatively empty stretch between Vance and the Lake View area produced little physical evidence and few witnesses to aid investigators.

Less than two months after the killing, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of Bibbs' killer. Today, on the three-year anniversary of the murder, the reward remains unclaimed.

Anyone who knows anything about the deadly shooting is urged to share that information with investigators and help bring closure and justice to one of the area's only unsolved murders in recent history.

The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit can be reached at 205-464-8690. Tips can also be made anonymously to the Tuscaloosa County Crimestoppers at 205-752-7867.