Testimony described two 911 calls, an alleged pursuit and competing accounts of the confrontation that ended with Stephen Morrow’s death.

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. — A judge set a $250,000 cash-only bond for an 18-year-old charged with murder after hearing testimony that a minor encounter inside a Walmart developed over 29 minutes into a fatal shooting in a nearby restaurant parking lot.

Timothy Braden Crawford is accused of killing 46-year-old Stephen Morrow on June 3 in Sumiton. Prosecutors asked the court to keep Crawford jailed without bond under Alabama’s Aniah’s Law, arguing that his alleged conduct made him a danger to the public. The defense said Crawford had no criminal record, held a steady job and fired in self-defense after Morrow broke a window on Crawford’s truck and tried to get inside. Judge Henry Allred concluded that Crawford posed a danger but ruled that prosecutors had not met the legal standard required to deny bond entirely.

The resulting order allows Crawford to seek release only by posting the full $250,000 in cash. If released, he must remain on house arrest, stay off social media and avoid contact with the friends who were with him on the night of the shooting. Other reported restrictions include no possession of firearms and no contact with Morrow’s family. The conditions are intended to limit Crawford’s movements and communications while the murder charge remains pending. The ruling was not a finding on whether Crawford acted lawfully or committed the offense alleged by prosecutors.

Assistant Chief Scott Lawler of the Sumiton Police Department told the court that the encounter began inside the Walmart on Highway 78. Morrow accidentally bumped another teenager with a shopping cart, according to the testimony. A verbal dispute followed, and Crawford became involved. Morrow then called 911 from outside the store. A Walmart employee stayed with Morrow and his wife, Kayla Morrow, as they waited for police, Lawler said. The couple later went back inside and continued shopping rather than immediately leaving the area.

When the Morrows finished shopping, they used a different exit, according to investigators. Police testified that Crawford followed them after they left. Morrow placed a second 911 call because he did not want Crawford to learn where he lived, Lawler said. The testimony did not establish that the two men knew each other before the encounter inside the store. What began with contact from a shopping cart had by then moved beyond the Walmart property and involved both men’s vehicles, according to the accounts presented in court.

The confrontation ended in the parking lot of Las Reyes 2 Mexican Restaurant, across from the Walmart shopping area. Investigators said about 29 minutes passed between the original argument and the gunfire. Defense attorney Sam Bentley said Morrow broke the passenger-side window of Crawford’s truck and attempted to enter the vehicle. The defense argued that Crawford shot only when he believed he faced an immediate threat. Court reporting indicated that Morrow reached into the truck before he was shot, though the exact sequence and significance of those actions remain central disputed issues in the case.

Prosecutors focused on what happened before the final confrontation. Lawler testified that Crawford admitted following Morrow after the dispute in the store. Investigators also said Crawford initially claimed that Morrow had tried to run him off the road. Lawler told the judge that video evidence contradicted that part of Crawford’s account. Authorities have not publicly released all of the surveillance recordings or other video reviewed during the investigation, leaving the full visual record unavailable for independent public examination.

Police found Morrow wounded in the restaurant parking lot shortly before 9 p.m. He was taken to UAB Hospital, where he died. His wife later wrote that her husband told her, “Kayla, I’m dying and I love you.” She also described being haunted by what she witnessed. The statements provide a family account of Morrow’s final moments but do not resolve the legal questions surrounding the confrontation. Those questions will depend on evidence, witness testimony and the application of Alabama law as the prosecution moves forward.

Investigators said Crawford had left by the time officers reached the shooting scene. Police recovered two projectiles, a shell casing, a bloody handprint and a bloody towel, according to the bond hearing testimony. They later located Crawford’s truck at his family’s home on Bankhead Highway in Dora. A 9-millimeter handgun was recovered from inside the vehicle, Lawler said. Crawford’s parents contacted police after he returned home, and he later surrendered. Investigators interviewed him with his parents present.

Crawford’s father, Timothy Scott Crawford, testified for the defense about his son’s background. He said the teenager had lived with his family at the same Dora residence for about 14 years and had worked at Sides Furniture for nearly a year. He also said his son has dyslexia and is on the autism spectrum and had completed his education through Penn Foster after experiencing bullying. The father said he believed Crawford lacked the maturity of many other adults his age. The court also heard that Crawford had previously been issued a pistol permit.

The testimony about Crawford’s developmental conditions was offered as part of the defense argument concerning bond and his personal circumstances. It did not establish whether those conditions affected his actions on June 3, and the hearing did not determine criminal responsibility. Prosecutors maintained that the alleged decision to follow Morrow after the initial dispute, along with the fatal outcome, showed a continuing risk. The judge’s ruling reflected both findings: Allred described Crawford as dangerous but imposed a high cash bond and strict controls instead of ordering detention without bond.

Aniah’s Law allows Alabama prosecutors to request that defendants charged with certain violent offenses be held without bail when the state can meet the required burden. Such hearings address pretrial release, not guilt. Crawford remains presumed innocent unless convicted. His self-defense claim also has not been adjudicated. Investigators’ description of an alleged pursuit and the defense account of a broken truck window will likely remain important as attorneys examine whether Crawford created, prolonged or could have withdrawn from the confrontation before the shooting.

Morrow was remembered by relatives as a husband and father, and an online fundraiser was organized to help his family with funeral costs and living expenses. His death drew attention across the Sumiton area because the conflict began during an ordinary shopping trip and ended less than half an hour later with gunfire outside a nearby business. Employees in the surrounding shopping area told local reporters they were left with questions about how the dispute had grown and why it was not defused before the shooting.

Additional proceedings, evidence disclosures or charging decisions may further clarify the case, but no trial verdict has been reported. Crawford remained charged in Morrow’s death, and the last verified bond order required $250,000 in cash and strict conditions for any pretrial release.

Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.