Police Release Update On Alabama Mom Fatally Ambushed Outside Her Car On Valentine's Day

Alabama police released an update Thursday about a Hoover mother who was ambushed and killed while outside her car two months ago on Valentine's Day.

Though no suspects have yet been arrested, authorities say they believe they’re closing in on this woman’s murderer.

Shemethia Coteat, 41, was shot dead in front of her apartment complex on Feb. 14, Hoover Police Lt. Keith Czeskleba said in an interview with Oxygen.com. Police believe the killer was waiting for Coteat in the parking lot.

The killing appears to have been a targeted attack, Czeskleba said. Investigators believe the suspect approached Coteat from behind while she was loading items out of her car. The killer shot her in the back four times before driving off.

Officers found Coteat “mortally wounded” in the parking lot, according to a statement by the Hoover Police Department. Hoover Fire medics declared her dead at 7:05 p.m. on Valentine’s Day.

Police now have a suspect in mind — but they don’t yet have enough evidence to put out an arrest warrant, police said in an Apr. 9 statement obtained by Alabama news station ABC 33/40 News.

“The person who provides that final piece of critical information that leads to this suspect’s arrest will receive up to $5,000.00 in reward money,” police said in the statement.

Czeskleba hopes this reminder will help bring Coteat’s case back into the public eye, he said

“We’re certainly not going to stop investigating it, and we don’t want it to get lost in the shuffle of everything else that’s happening in the world right now,” he told Oxygen.com.

Hoover has had 20 murders in the past ten years, and except for this one, all of them have been solved, Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato told local news station WHNT-19 News.

“We feel like we’re extremely close to putting all the pieces together and making an arrest. However, we still need information,” Hoover Police Capt. Gregg Rector told Alabama news website AL.com.