Court testimony detailed the final hours before 20-year-old Ava Walters was found dead in a Montgomery hotel used for student housing.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A judge granted $175,000 bond to a Florida man charged with murder in the strangulation death of Alabama State University student Ava Walters, a ruling that followed court testimony about the couple’s final night together and the evidence investigators say conflicts with parts of the suspect’s account.

Jalil Bivens, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was charged after Walters, 20, was found unresponsive Aug. 23 at a Hilton Garden Inn on Interstate Park Drive in Montgomery. Alabama State University was using rooms at the hotel as temporary student housing while work on campus dormitories continued. Walters was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later determined that she died from manual strangulation, according to testimony from a Montgomery homicide detective reported by WSFA.

The bond decision came after an Aniah’s Law hearing, a proceeding in which prosecutors may seek to hold a defendant accused of certain violent crimes without bail. District Judge Pamela Higgins ruled that prosecutors had not shown by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions could reasonably protect the public or ensure Bivens would return to court. She set bond at $175,000 and barred him from leaving Alabama without court permission, according to the written order reported by local media.

The hearing produced a fuller account of the weekend than was available when Montgomery police first announced the arrest. A homicide detective testified that Bivens told investigators he drove from Fort Lauderdale to Montgomery on Saturday night because he wanted to surprise Walters, who also was from the Fort Lauderdale area. After arriving, he texted her to say he was in Montgomery. Walters met him while accompanied by her best friend, according to the detective’s account of the interview.

Investigators said the group later went to a party. Bivens told police that he and Walters’ friend argued over who would spend time with Walters, and police later interviewed the friend, whose description of that dispute generally matched his account, the detective testified. Bivens and Walters eventually left the party together and went to the Hilton Garden Inn room where Walters was staying under the university’s temporary housing arrangement.

According to the detective, Bivens said he and Walters argued again the next morning. He told investigators that he then choked Walters during what he described as a consensual act and realized after releasing her that she was unconscious. That description is an allegation contained in the developing criminal case and has not been proven at trial. Investigators have said physical evidence raised questions about whether his explanation accounted for what happened in the room.

The detective testified that Bivens said he tried to revive Walters and later used ChatGPT to search for information about waking someone who had been choked unconscious. Investigators said the search was made at about 10:24 a.m. Bivens then contacted a friend by FaceTime at about 10:33 a.m., according to testimony. Police said the friend reported hearing a different explanation: Bivens allegedly said Walters had struck her head on a nightstand and was no longer breathing. The friend initially thought Bivens was joking because of his calm manner, the detective testified, until Bivens turned the camera toward Walters.

Bivens called police at 10:54 a.m., according to investigators. Dispatchers instructed him to perform CPR while officers and emergency personnel were sent to the hotel. Responders found Walters unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead. Police took Bivens into custody and later questioned him after advising him of his rights. The detective told the court that Bivens cooperated with investigators and answered their questions.

Prosecutors pointed to other evidence they said did not fit the suspect’s account. The detective testified that the autopsy identified manual strangulation as Walters’ cause of death. Investigators also documented scratches on Bivens’ torso and arms that they believed were defensive wounds. Police said Walters’ injuries were inconsistent with portions of what Bivens told investigators. Those assertions have not been tested before a jury, and Bivens is presumed innocent unless convicted.

The detective also testified that Bivens acknowledged having an AR-style pistol in his vehicle and said he had bought it outside normal retail channels. Authorities have not said the firearm was used in Walters’ death, and the reported evidence concerning her cause of death centers on strangulation. Police also have not publicly identified a motive for the killing. The murder charge rests on the state’s allegation that Bivens intentionally caused Walters’ death.

Walters was a second-year health information management student at Alabama State, university President Quinton Ross Jr. said after her death. She came to the historically Black university from Fort Lauderdale. Ross told the campus community that the university was mourning one of its students and extended condolences to Walters’ family, friends and classmates. He said the school community should support those affected by her death with compassion and care.

The place where Walters died added an unusual element to the case. Although the killing occurred in a commercial hotel, the property was functioning in part as university housing. Alabama State had rented rooms there for students while new or renovated dormitory space was being completed, according to testimony reported by WSFA. Police initially described the Interstate Park Drive location as an off-campus university facility. That arrangement meant Walters was in housing connected to her school even though she was not in a traditional residence hall.

Early reports differed on Bivens’ age, with some outlets listing him as 21 and later local reports and detention information identifying him as 22. Police and court reporting consistently identified him as a Fort Lauderdale resident and Walters’ boyfriend. Both were from the same South Florida area, but Walters had moved to Montgomery for college. Authorities have not released a more detailed public account of how long they had been dating.

The case remained an active homicide investigation after Bivens was charged. Walters was identified in local reporting as Montgomery’s 34th homicide victim of 2026 at the time of her death. Less than a month later, another Alabama State student was killed in an unrelated off-campus shooting, adding to a difficult period for the university community. Authorities have not suggested the cases were connected.

The most recent public reporting reviewed for this story showed Bivens had been granted $175,000 bond under conditions that included remaining in Alabama unless a court authorized travel. The bond ruling did not resolve the murder charge or determine guilt. No later publicly reported trial, plea or final disposition in Walters’ case was located in the sources reviewed as of Oct. 17.

Author note: Last updated Oct. 17, 2026.