Charges have been dismissed against a man indicted for murder in connection with a fatal April 2023 shooting in Scottsboro.
Jackson County Circuit Judge John Graham Friday dismissed charges against Jerry Carl Hicks, 26, of Scottsboro, who was arrested in the fatal shooting of Aaron Morris Nix, 33, at LaCabana Mexican Restaurant on Veterans Drive.
The incident happened April 7, 2023.
According to court documents, Hicks, his wife and six-year-old son went to the restaurant and ate a meal. Hicks had not been drinking, and was “completely sober,” the court determined.
Nix, 33, entered the restaurant to pick up his niece, a waitress at the restaurant when her shift ended, and to use the bathroom. A toxicology report from his autopsy found he had twice the alcohol content in his blood to be considered intoxicated for drivers, according to court documents.
According to Hicks, Nix loudly asked why Hicks would allow his son to go to the bathroom by himself. The child said nothing happened in the bathroom.
Hicks testified that Nix had an altercation with him in the parking lot, began yelling at him, then bumped his chest and hit him three times, while Hicks’ wife and child were inside his vehicle. Hicks said he warned Nix that he had a gun – a 9 mm Luger, which he had a permit to carry.
Nix’s sister, who was in his car, said during testimony that Hicks called her brother a racial slur and fired more than one shot. But Graham noted that testimony varied from her statement given to police following the incident. Hicks denied using a slur.
Hicks said he shot Nix when he saw the man, who was wearing a heavy leather jacket, reach his hand near his waistband and thought he was about to shoot Hicks.
According to investigators, Hicks fired once and hit Nix near the neck. He later died. A pocket knife was observed at the scene, according to the Clarion.
“The defendant was fearful for himself and his wife and child,” Graham wrote in his decision.
