Stephen Morrow’s widow witnessed the shooting after investigators say another shopper followed the couple from a Walmart.
SUMITON, Ala. — Kayla Morrow had gone shopping with her husband when a brief encounter involving a shopping cart began a chain of events that ended with him mortally wounded in front of her less than half an hour later.
Stephen Morrow, 46, died after being shot June 3 in the parking lot of a small commercial center across from a Walmart on Highway 78. His wife later said his final words to her were, “Kayla, I’m dying and I love you.” The statement became the most personal account of a case that otherwise has been described through police testimony, physical evidence and competing legal claims. Timothy Braden Crawford, 18, is charged with murder, while his attorney maintains that Crawford fired in self-defense.
The killing began in a setting with no obvious connection to violent crime. Investigators said Morrow accidentally bumped another teenager with a shopping cart while inside the Walmart. A verbal confrontation followed, and Crawford became involved. Nothing in the available reports indicates that the cart contact caused a significant injury or that Crawford and Morrow had a prior relationship. Yet the disagreement did not remain in the aisle, and it did not end when Morrow contacted police.
Assistant Chief Scott Lawler testified that Morrow placed a 911 call from outside the store. A Walmart employee stayed with Morrow and his wife while they waited for police. The couple then returned to their shopping. That part of the sequence is notable because it shows a period in which the Morrows remained in a public place and resumed a routine activity. When they later left, investigators said they used a different exit, an apparent effort to avoid another confrontation.
Police testified that Crawford followed them. Morrow called 911 a second time, saying he did not want Crawford to know where he lived. The available reporting does not include the audio or a transcript of either call, and it does not establish exactly what officers told Morrow. It also remains unclear from the public record whether police reached the Walmart before the couple drove away. What is known is that the contact continued onto nearby roads and into another business’s parking lot.
The final confrontation took place near Las Reyes 2 Mexican Restaurant. The defense says Morrow broke a passenger-side window on Crawford’s truck and attempted to enter the vehicle. Reports of court testimony also said Morrow reached inside. Crawford then shot him. Prosecutors have not denied that an encounter occurred at the truck, but they stress the allegation that Crawford had followed Morrow from the Walmart, creating the circumstances in which the men came together again.
For Kayla Morrow, those disputed legal questions followed an immediate personal loss. She wrote after the shooting that every time she closed her eyes she could see the event happening. She also described the effect on the couple’s son, Eli. A fundraiser organized for the family said contributions would assist with funeral costs, daily expenses and the child’s future. Such statements do not prove what happened before the gunfire, but they show the consequences of a death that court records can describe only in procedural terms.
Morrow was taken to UAB Hospital, where he died. His funeral was held in the days after the shooting, according to published reports. Relatives and supporters referred to him by the nickname “Fro” and described him as a devoted father and husband. Public accounts said he enjoyed fishing and cars, though the central fact for his family was the abrupt loss of a parent and spouse during an errand that would ordinarily have ended with groceries being taken home.
The shooting also unsettled workers at businesses near the scene. Employees interviewed by local media said they were left trying to understand what led to the violence. The restaurant parking lot and surrounding shopping area are familiar places in a small community, not locations normally associated with a prolonged conflict between strangers. No reporting reviewed for this article indicated that other shoppers, workers or motorists were wounded, but the encounter unfolded around people who had no role in the dispute.
When officers arrived, Crawford’s truck was gone. Investigators collected two projectiles, a shell casing, a bloody handprint and a bloody towel. Police later found Crawford’s vehicle at his family’s home on Bankhead Highway in Dora and recovered a 9-millimeter handgun from inside. His parents contacted authorities after he returned home, and Crawford surrendered. He was interviewed with his parents present, according to testimony presented at a later bond hearing.
Lawler said Crawford initially claimed that Morrow had tried to force him off the road. The assistant chief told the court that video evidence contradicted that account. Investigators also said Crawford acknowledged following Morrow after the Walmart confrontation. Authorities have not released the full collection of surveillance footage, road video or other recordings cited in court, preventing the public from independently evaluating how the vehicles moved or where each confrontation began.
Crawford’s attorney, Sam Bentley, argues that the shooting must be evaluated from the moment Morrow broke the truck window and tried to get inside. The defense says Crawford reasonably believed he needed to protect himself. Prosecutors view the preceding conduct differently, pointing to the alleged following and the extended time between the first argument and the gunshot. About 29 minutes passed from the store encounter to the shooting, according to court testimony.
Those competing views illustrate why the arrest does not amount to a conviction. A murder charge states the prosecution’s allegation. Crawford remains presumed innocent, and his claim of self-defense must be evaluated through evidence and Alabama law. The public reports do not identify a final ruling on the merits of that defense. They also do not answer every question about Morrow’s conduct at the truck or Crawford’s purpose in continuing to follow the couple.
At a hearing under Alabama’s Aniah’s Law, prosecutors argued that Crawford should remain jailed without bond because he posed a danger to the community. The defense presented evidence about his personal history, including his lack of a criminal record and his work at a furniture business. His father testified that Crawford has dyslexia, is on the autism spectrum and is less mature than many people his age. The court also heard that Crawford had been issued a pistol permit.
Judge Henry Allred found Crawford dangerous but did not order him held without bail. Instead, the judge set a $250,000 cash-only bond. If Crawford is released, he must comply with strict conditions, including house arrest, no social media use and no contact with the friends who were with him that night. Other reported conditions bar him from possessing firearms and contacting Morrow’s family. The order addressed only whether and under what terms he could await further proceedings outside jail.
The case places the family’s grief alongside a legal process designed to move slowly and test each allegation. Investigators must account for the store encounter, the two calls for help, the decision to use another exit, the movement of the vehicles, the broken window and the final use of deadly force. Defense lawyers may challenge how police interpreted the footage and Crawford’s statements. Prosecutors must prove every required element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt if the case reaches trial.
For Morrow’s family, no later legal finding can undo what occurred in the parking lot. His widow’s account reduces the complicated chronology to a final exchange between spouses, while the court case asks a different set of questions about pursuit, fear, intent and legal justification. Both realities are part of the story, but only the evidence and future proceedings can determine Crawford’s criminal responsibility.
No final disposition of the murder charge was found in the reliable sources reviewed through July 15. Crawford remained accused, and the last verified court action set conditional cash bond. The investigation and prosecution therefore remained unresolved as Morrow’s wife and son continued to live with the loss described in her public statements.
Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.