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Alabama College Student Found Murdered In Her Apartment, Boyfriend Is Taken Into Custody
A family member discovered Madison Shea Pilkington dead in her apartment Saturday morning around 4 a.m. after they had gone to check on the 25-year-old after she failed to show up to work.
An Alabama college student was found dead in her apartment of an apparent assault and her boyfriend is now behind bars.
Cortez Lenarde Warren, 32, is facing charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful possession of marijuana in the second-degree after police say he is suspected of killing his 25-year-old girlfriend, Madison Shea Pilkington, according to a statement from Hoover Police.
Pilkington’s body was discovered Saturday morning around 4:10 a.m. by a concerned family member, who had gone to her apartment to check on her after she failed to show up for work at a local restaurant. The family member discovered the 25-year-old “unresponsive” inside the apartment. She was later pronounced dead at the scene by Hoover paramedics.
Police said evidence found at the scene suggests that Pilkington died “as a result of an assault.” A spokesperson for Hoover Police declined to provide additional details about how she died to Oxygen.com.
Police quickly identified Hoover as a suspect in the case and spotted his white Nissan Altima later that afternoon traveling through Irondale and Birmingham, AL.com reports. He was taken into custody after a pursuit by multiple agencies.
Warren has been accused of domestic violence in the past. He was arrested in 2016 on domestic violence charges against another woman after the woman told police that he had choked her, threw her on the bed and shoved his hand in her mouth to stop her from screaming, according to court records obtained by the news outlet.
A grand jury declined to indict him on the charge of strangulation and the second charge was dismissed by authorities.
Pilkington’s aunt, Dana Armstrong, told AL.com that her niece had hoped to one day become a graphic designer.
“She was beautiful both inside and out,” Armstrong said. “She was loved by everyone who knew her.”
Armstrong said Pilkington’s death has been a “shock” to the family.
“We’re devastated,’’ she said “and we want people to keep us in their prayers.”
Pilkington’s former classmate Tristan Van Bogart remembered her to local station WBMA as someone with an infectious personality.
“Super bubbly, awesome, awesome person to be around,” Bogart said. “If you were having a bad day, you went and saw Madison.”
Bogart called the death a “tragedy.”
Warren is currently being held at the Jefferson County Jail on a $262,000 bond.
