*Alabama authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the killing of a beloved 41-year-old mother, who was found dead by her teenage daughter outside their apartment complex.
Shemethia Coteat Stanton was ambushed and shot on Valentine’s Day, while retrieving items from her car’s backseat. No arrests have been made, but police need the public’s help with solving the case.
Stanton’s teen daughter, Kassidy, spoke to AL.com about her mother’s murder.
“I heard the last three shots because I think there were five,” she explained. “I was sitting there waiting on it to stop. I heard the tires go off and that’s it. I’m thinking, ‘OK, somebody just got shot and I’m nosy so I’m going to go look.’”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Bernie Sanders Ends Presidential Race; Nomination Now Biden’s
Hoover police offer $5,000 reward for info. about Valentine’s Day murder of Shemethia Coteathttps://t.co/e49xHwnZG6
— ABC 33/40 News (@abc3340) April 9, 2020
When the 17-year-old peeked through the blinds, she did not see her mom inside her vehicle.
“My first instinct was to go look again, double check, because maybe she’s in the breezeway and maybe she’s running from the gunshots,” Kassidy said. “I saw her car door open, but I didn’t see her still. At this point, I’m worried because why didn’t she come in the house?”
Kassidy went outside and noticed her mom unresponsive on the ground.
“I checked her pulse because I’m trained for CPR,” she said. “There was no pulse. By that time, the neighbors came out and I was screaming but it was so unreal to me that my mama was laying there. There was no reason for somebody to do something like this to somebody so loving, and so God-fearing. It just hurt me so bad. I can’t explain it.”
Stanton is survived by four children, including a 9-year-old son.
Hoover Police Capt. Gregg Rector said detectives need more information to build their case. No motive is known at this time.
“We need that final, additional piece of evidence to make our case stronger,” Rector told AL.com. “We want to make an arrest and we want it to hold up in court. There is someone out there who has information that can tip the scales for us.”
Kassidy told AL.com her mother was “the type of person who everybody loved. She was just the energy of everything. If there was a party and my mom walked in, the party started. She was the type of person who would help anybody, just anybody. She was just that type of person anyone could call on whenever you needed her or whatever the situation is. Wrong or right, she was going to talk to you and tell you what’s wrong and what is right and what you could have done better to avoid the situation.”
Police urge anyone with information about Stanton’s murder to call Hoover Police at (205) 444-7562 or Crime Stoppers at (205) 254-7777.
Tips can also be submitted online here.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
