Charles Carson-Dowdy pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder through the use of a firearm, this past April
Credit: Escambia County Sheriff’s Office
NEED TO KNOW
- Charles Carson-Dowdy was sentenced to life in prison for the January 2025 murder of his girlfriend, Starmichael Tucker
- In April, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including cyberstalking and murder through the use of a firearm
- At the time of her killing, Carson-Dowdy fatally shot his girlfriend 14 times and ran her over with her car three times
An Alabama man has been sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of fatally shooting his girlfriend 14 times and running her over with her car three times.
Charles Carson-Dowdy, 31, received his sentence on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, announced in a news release. The sentencing comes four months after he pleaded guilty to four counts related to the January 2025 homicide of Starmichael Tucker, 30.
Carson-Dowdy entered a guilty plea to charges of cyberstalking, interstate domestic violence, murder through use of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon this past April.
U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin issued a statement following the sentencing, expressing his condolences to Tucker’s family. “My heart goes out to the victim’s family members and friends, who were robbed of Ms. Tucker’s presence in their lives by the depraved actions of this violent thug.”
“We cannot lessen the profound sadness caused by Ms. Tucker’s murder, but thanks to this aggressive prosecution by my office that secured a life sentence for Carson-Dowdy’s heinous crimes, we can guarantee that this criminal will spend the rest of his pathetic life locked behind bars where he belongs,” Heekin continued.
Credit: 919th SOW Commander/Facebook
Carson-Dowdy, a convicted felon who lived in Mobile, Ala., began dating Tucker, a resident of Pensacola, Fla., in October 2024. During their relationship, “Carson-Dowdy used cellular telephones, the internet, and a ridesharing business to engage in a course of conduct with the intent to harass and intimidate the victim,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office states.
Two months into their relationship, Tucker visited her family in California, and while there, the couple engaged in an “escalating series of arguments via text message,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Tucker returned to Florida on Jan. 1, 2025, and tried to break up with Carson-Dowdy via text message that same day. But Carson-Dowdy called an Uber from his home in Mobile to hers in Pensacola — 60 miles east.
During the drive, he had a Taurus handgun and an extra loaded magazine, despite the prohibition on convicted felons possessing a firearm or ammunition.
Credit: Baldwin Co Sheriffs Office
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Upon his arrival in Pensacola, he went into Ms. Tucker’s home without her permission, where he waited for her until she came home, and she found him inside. When she left her apartment at approximately 8:00 p.m. local time on Jan. 2, 2025, Carson-Dowdy followed her and shot her in the back, and she collapsed to the ground in the parking lot, prosecutors said.
He then approached the injured victim and shot her at close range approximately 10 more times. He then went into her parked car and drove over her body three times, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office release. She died of her injuries.
Carson-Dowdy had fled from the scene, and law enforcement located him with the handgun in her car in Spanish Fort, Ala.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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