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Man Pleads Guilty In Federal Murder Case For Killing Reservist Just Behind Nine Mile Kohl’s
April 3, 2026
An Alabama man has been pleaded guilty to federal charges for fatally shooting and running over a woman January 2, 2025, near an apartment complex behind Kohl’s on Nine Mile Road.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to the area of an apartment complex on Baldridge Drive about 8:30 p.m. to find that 30-year-old Starmichael L. Tucker, a U.S. Air Force reservist, had been shot several times. She later died at the hospital.
Charles Jerome Carson-Dowdy, 31, pleaded guilty in federal court for cyberstalking, interstate domestic violence, murder through use of a firearm, and possession of a firearm
Carson-Dowdy faces up to life imprisonment at his sentencing, which is scheduled for August 25 at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.
“Thanks to the excellent investigative work of our state and federal law enforcement partners, and the aggressive prosecution by my office, this offender will be held accountable for the anguish he has inflicted on the victim’s family through his vicious, deadly, and cowardly violence that stole an innocent life. This case underscores the deadly threats posed by dating and domestic violence, and it is more important than ever to obtain justice for the victims, like Ms. Tucker, to ensure this can never happen again,” said United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida John P. Heekin.
Court documents state that Carson-Dowdy, who resided in Mobile, and Tucker, who resided in Pensacola, Florida, began dating in or about October 2024. During the dating relationship, Carson-Dowdy used cellphones, the internet, and a ridesharing business to engage in a course of conduct with the intent to harass and intimidate Tucker. At the end of December 2024, Tucker flew to California to visit family for the holidays. During her trip, Tucker and Carson-Dowdy had a series of escalating arguments by text message.
On January 1, 2025, as Tucker traveled back to Florida from California, she and Carson- Dowdy had a conversation via text message during which the victim attempted to end the relationship with Carson-Dowdy. In response, Carson-Dowdy, who was at his residence in Mobile used his phone to call an Uber and traveled to the Tucker’s residence in Pensacola to confront her. Carson-Dowdy brought a Taurus handgun and an extra loaded magazine with him as he traveled from Alabama to Florida.
Carson-Dowdy entered Tucker’s home without her permission, and she returned home to find him in her apartment. At approximately 8 on January 2, 2025, Carson-Dowdy followed Ms. Tucker as she left her apartment and he fired an initial volley of approximately four shots at her using his handgun. The victim was struck from behind by the bullets and collapsed in the apartment parking lot. Carson-Dowdy walked over to Ms. Tucker, who was lying on the ground, and shot her approximately ten more times. Carson-Dowdy then entered the victim’s vehicle parked nearby, and deliberately ran over Tucker with the car, reversing the vehicle over her body, and then driving forward, running over her again. Carson-Dowdy then fled from the scene in the victim’s vehicle. Tucker died from the injuries inflicted by Carson-Dowdy.
Carson-Dowdy was ultimately located by law enforcement in the victim’s vehicle in Spanish Fort, Alabama. He was taken into custody, and the Taurus handgun used to murder the victim was found inside the car.
The case is being investigated jointly by the ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the State Attorney’s Office, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, which conducted the initial investigation.
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