Willie Haywood Jr

On a Sunday morning in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the life of Willie Haywood Jr., a 53-year-old Black man, was cut short by violence. Deputies from the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a call about a shooting at a residence in the 4400 block of 20th Street NE around 9:15 a.m. on September 5, 2021. Inside the home, they discovered Mr. Haywood deceased from a gunshot wound to the chest. They also found a 2-month-old infant girl who had been shot in the chest but was still alive.

The investigation by the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit revealed that the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute. Authorities said that a verbal argument between Haywood and 25-year-old Lashana Henderson, the baby’s mother, escalated with deadly consequences. Henderson allegedly armed herself with a 9mm pistol and fired at Haywood while he was holding her infant daughter. Both Haywood and the baby were struck by the gunfire. While Haywood succumbed to his injuries at the scene, first responders rushed the critically wounded infant to Children's Hospital in Birmingham for emergency medical care.

Investigators learned that Henderson herself had called 911 to report the shooting. According to court documents, she admitted to firing the handgun during the argument but said she only realized Haywood was holding the baby as she fired. Henderson was taken into custody at the scene.

Lashana Henderson was arrested and charged with capital murder for the death of Willie Haywood Jr. and first-degree domestic violence assault for the injuries to her child. The capital murder charge was applied because Haywood was killed in the presence of a child under the age of 14 for whom he was acting as a parent or legal guardian. He was not the baby's biological father but was her caregiver and lived in the home. Henderson was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where she was held without bond on the murder charge and given a $60,000 bond for the assault.

At a preliminary hearing on September 28, 2021, an investigator testified that Henderson claimed she and Haywood were arguing because he was “talking ugly to her.” She reportedly told a 911 dispatcher that she had intended to fire a warning shot into a wall and did not know the gun’s safety was off. Following the hearing, Judge Joanne Jannik found probable cause for the capital murder charge. As of September 2021, Henderson remained held without bond as her case was bound over to a grand jury. At that time, her daughter’s condition was reported to be stable and improving.