Police are charging a Huntsville officer with capital murder in the off-duty killing of his pregnant girlfriend, who was from Trion, Georgia.
Court records showed Officer David Michael McCoy was booked into the Madison County Jail late Friday.
Arrest records show McCory is charged in the slaying of Courtney Spraggins, whose family identified her as being pregnant with the child of McCoy, her boyfriend.
She was shot to death in a Toyota Camry at an address near McCoy's home in Huntsville. Police tell our sister station WBMA in Birmingham that she was shot in the head.
Earlier this week, McCoy's attorneys asked a judge to bar the public from seeing any written documents of hearings about the case. They also asked a court to bar lawyers involved in the case from talking about it outside court.
The defense told the judge that the news media can publish “sensitive matters” about the case if records — which normally are open to anyone — remain public. The media has a “terrible record” of inaccuracy, and that could compromise McCoy’s constitutional rights in a case where the death penalty is possible by inflaming would-be jurors, the defense argued.
Prosecutors have not responded to the defense request, and a Madison County judge didn’t immediately rule on McCoy’s requests and instead scheduled a hearing for January 18th.
A preliminary hearing in which evidence could be revealed is scheduled for Jan. 28th.
Courtney Spraggins' mother spoke to our ABC affiliate WAAY-TV in Huntsville.
Kimberly Walter says she tried to warn her daughter to be careful with the man now accused of killing her.
“She believed his lies. He’s narcissistic, he is manipulative, and he lured her in. He caught her when she was vulnerable,” Kimberly Walter told WAAY 31 on Monday.
Walter said she believes her daughter met McCoy two years ago on the online dating site Tinder. The two carried on a long-distance relationship, meeting when Spraggins would come to Alabama, Walter said.
Friends and family told WAAY that Spraggins was seven months pregnant and moving to Huntsville to live with McCoy and have the baby. But Friday morning, she was shot in the head while in a car parked outside of McCoy's apartment.
WAAY reports court documents show the weapon used to kill Spraggins is a 380 Ruger LCP. Right now, it's not clear if the gun used was issued to McCoy by Huntsville P.D.
Family members of Spraggins have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral expenses.
This is a developing story. Depend on us to keep you posted as we learn more.