Family mourns death of Alabama high school student killed in shooting

MONROEVILLE, Ala. (WKRG) — A family in Monroeville is buried in grief and searching for justice after the death of a 17-year-old high school student. 

Family members identified the victim as King Stallworth, a Monroe County High School senior. 

Long hair, bright eyes and a great smile are how family describe the teenager. His mother, Sheronda Stallworth, clutched the first picture she has of her son when he came home as a newborn. He’s now a young man preserved in memory who she’ll never see again.

“I’ll wake up and call his name,” Stallworth’s mother said. “He, he’s not answering. I’m used to seeing him.”

Family members said he was picked up by a friend and then was shot in a vehicle a short distance away from his home on George H. Preyear Road.

Monroeville police said they responded to the shooting at about 12:30 a.m. Friday. Sheronda Stallworth said she was told her son was shot and went to the scene. She said she helped her son get to the hospital, but it wasn’t enough to save him. 

“It really hurt because it was a good child, and ever since I knew him, he was the good child,” said Polly Stallworth, a great aunt of the victim. He didn’t ever get in no trouble. He always smiling when I come around. He come round and hug me, you know?”

Family members described it as a heartbreaking loss. They said they’ve lost a young man before he could learn what his potential could be later in life. 

“It’s senseless,” said King Stallworth’s second cousin Sullivan Hale. “He didn’t get a chance to see the world or nothing, so it’s a waste.”

Family members said the loss was so great that Monroe County High School canceled Friday’s football game.  Family members had already planned a reunion this weekend, an event of joy now punctuated by sorrow.

“He will never be here,” Stallworth’s mother said. “I’m trying to grasp it. I never see him again.”

Family members described King Stallworth as an ambitious young man who was looking forward to his next phase of life after high school and had a direction before it was cut short by violence. 

Monroeville police said they were looking for a person of interest in the case. It’s not clear how many people may have been involved in the shooting.