Montgomery DA says the city is 'under siege' after a weekend of violence where the born-again Christian husband of a former Miss America contestant was gunned down in front of his family while they were out preaching in a 'rough area'.
The DA of Alabama's capital city, Daryl Bailey, said he spent his entire weekend dealing with a wave of violent crime.
'We've got to start sending messages that this behavior is not tolerated. I spent my entire weekend dealing with the violent crime in Montgomery, going to crime scenes, or on the phone with law enforcement,' Bailey said.
Among those violent crimes was the senseless murder of Thomas Hand, 37, who was shot dead in front of his pregnant wife and two-year-old son in an unprovoked attack on Texas Street while preaching on Saturday.
Jerimiah Walker, 17, from Montgomery was arrested and charged with his murder. He's is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Facility.
Hand, a bodybuilder and born-again Christian, had not interacted with his assailant before Saturday's attack, his 33-year-old wife Christine Kozlowski Hand - a beauty pageant queen who once won the Miss Mississippi title and competed in Miss America - told DailyMail.com.
'It was a complete random act of violence,' she said.
Hand is the city's third homicide victim this year alone. Last year, the city recorded 75 homicides, with interim police Chief Ramona Harris calling it 'one of the highest number's we've seen in Montgomery.' The city recorded 68 murders in 2020 and 42 killings in 2019.
In the past four weeks alone, there have been eight aggravated assaults in the area where Hand was murdered. Three days before he was killed, someone fired a gun a block from where he was shot dead. It's not clear whether anyone was injured in that incident.
Christine Kozlowski Hand is seen with her husband, Thomas, who was shot and killed Saturday while he was preaching in a 'rough' neighborhood on Texas Street in Montgomery
Hand is pictured with his wife Kozlowski and their son, Roman, in this undated photo
Hand was shot dead in front of his wife and two-year-old son in this area of Texas Street, which friends have called a 'rough' neighborhood
In the past four weeks alone, there have been eight aggravated assaults in the area where Hand was murdered, according to Montgomery crime stats. Three days before he was killed, someone fired a gun a block from where he was shot dead. Hand is the city's third homicide victim this year to date
A map shows the 3100 block of Texas Street where Hand was shot and killed on Saturday
Montgomery DA says the city is 'under siege' after a weekend of violence where the born-again Christian husband of a former Miss America contestant was gunned down in front of his family while they were out preaching in a 'rough area'
Baily told WSFA on Monday - two days after the murder - that he hopes the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling raising bail amounts for those charged with murder will help keep them behind bars. Previously, a murder suspect's bail could be set
