Terrance Heath Faulks, a 56-year-old Black man described by loved ones as very loving, caring, funny, and outgoing, lived in Decatur, Alabama. He had a daughter who was a college student, and a neighbor recalled having light conversations with him.
In the early hours of Monday, October 30, 2023, a resident on Fourth Avenue Southeast was startled by a single loud gunshot from the alley behind her home. She then heard a woman scream “no, no, no” before beginning to wail, and she called 911 at about 12:30 a.m. Decatur Police officers responded to a home in the 700 block of Third Avenue Southeast, where they found Terrance Faulks in the backyard with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Emergency personnel transported him to Decatur Morgan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m.
At the scene, officers found 22-year-old Chelsie Nicole Lampkin crying over Faulks’ body.
A 9mm handgun was found between Faulks’ legs and a 12-gauge shotgun lay beside his torso. Investigators also located a 9mm casing nearby. Lampkin, who had been living at the residence, was identified as the suspect and arrested later that day.
During an interview with detectives, Lampkin stated that she and Faulks were in a relationship and that he would become paranoid from mixing drugs and medication. She claimed that when this happened, they would frequently go into the backyard and fire guns into the air to scare away people he believed were trespassing. On the night of the shooting, Lampkin said Faulks again thought someone was on the property. She told police she carried the handgun and he carried the shotgun into the yard. She admitted to firing the handgun into the air a few feet from Faulks but was adamant that she did not shoot him, claiming he fell to the ground immediately after she fired. Investigators noted that the home’s security cameras and Faulks’ dog had not detected any intruders.
Chelsie Nicole Lampkin was charged with manslaughter and booked into the Morgan County Jail on a $100,000 bond. While in custody, she filed a request to attend the funeral of her “significant other,” but a judge denied it. After a preliminary hearing where the lead detective testified, a judge ruled that the case would be presented to a Morgan County grand jury. This development occurred in December 2023.
