Shemeka Stabler

Shemeka Stabler was a 31-year-old Black woman from the Mobile, Alabama, area who was remembered by loved ones as a bubbly, silly, and loving person. Her goddaughter described her as an amazing woman who was always there when needed. A mother to one daughter, Shemeka’s life was enmeshed in tragedy in the fall of 2019, when she became a victim of two separate, violent attacks just weeks apart.

Earlier in October 2019, Shemeka’s best friend, Jasmine Fields, was trying to leave an abusive relationship. When Jasmine went to visit Shemeka, her ex-boyfriend, Tyvontae Johnson, arrived and chased Jasmine around a car before shooting and killing her. Shemeka was shot in the chest when she tried to intervene and save her friend. Tyvontae Johnson then killed himself at the scene. Shemeka was the sole survivor of the attack and was hospitalized in the ICU before being released.

On the afternoon of October 23, 2019, Shemeka was found inside her car on an Interstate 165 ramp in Prichard. The vehicle’s passenger-side window was shattered, and Shemeka had been shot multiple times. Investigators believed she was shot at another location and was attempting to drive herself to a hospital. She was rushed to a medical facility but succumbed to her injuries. Her daughter later shared that the night before the shooting, her mother had expressed a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Police quickly made an arrest in Shemeka’s murder, charging 19-year-old Tremaine Johnson. Tremaine was the younger brother of Tyvontae Johnson, the man who had killed Jasmine Fields and wounded Shemeka weeks earlier. Authorities stated they believed Shemeka’s murder was a retaliatory shooting.

Tremaine Johnson pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. A judge set his bond at $165,000 and issued a no-contact order with Shemeka’s family. In the days following her death, family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil near the place where she was found, grieving a woman they said did not deserve her fate. As of November 2019, the case was proceeding to court, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for that month.