Inset: Bonita Brown (Birmingham Police Department). Background: The area in Alabama where Brown allegedly killed her boyfriend last year (Google Maps).
A 65-year-old Alabama woman is accused of killing her boyfriend, allegedly shooting the victim multiple times after he allegedly broke up with her while they met in a public park to have sex.
A grand jury in Jefferson County indicted Bonita Yvette Brown on one count of murder in connection with the slaying of 64-year-old Thomas Williams.
According to a news release from the Birmingham Police Department, officers responded to an area near Birmingham Park on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, regarding an unresponsive man in need of assistance. Officers later located Williams, a U.S. Army veteran, lying in the roadway in the 1700 block of Maple Avenue.
A passerby called 911 after discovering the body at about 2 p.m., AL.com reported. Emergency medical personnel with the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators said there were no shell casings near the body and the victim's cellphone appeared to be missing, local Fox affiliate WBRC reported.
Authorities later determined the shooting happened shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Investigators reportedly used phone records and smartwatch data from Williams to link him to a phone number belonging to Brown. The two had communicated in the hours just before his death. Flock cameras also placed a vehicle believed to be Brown's in the area of the park just before and after the shooting.
When questioned by detectives, Brown reportedly acknowledged that the phone number and vehicle connected to the investigation belonged to her. She then confirmed that she had been dating Williams before allegedly admitting that she shot him and took steps to cover up the scene.
"Defendant confessed to meeting the victim in a park to have sex and that when he broke up with her immediately after, she 'snapped' and shot him three times," Jefferson County District Judge Tiara Y. Hudson wrote in a bond order, according to AL.com. "She further cooperated with police in telling them where to find the firearm she used and the shell casings, which were all recovered from her home."
During a detention hearing in December 2025, prosecutors sought to have Brown held without bond, according to WBRC. Brown's defense attorney argued for her release, emphasizing her lack of a criminal record and saying she was the primary caregiver for her daughter.
The judge sided with Brown, setting her bond at $100,000. She posted bond and was released on the conditions that she not possess a firearm and attend biweekly treatment sessions.