Gay Man Charged With Murder in Alabama

Zachary Stirewalt, charged with fatally shooting the man who offered him a place to stay, was a former Eagle Scout and aspiring photographer.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

December 03 2012 6:01 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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A young gay man from North Carolina has been charged with fatally shooting a man he had been staying with in Alabama.

Zachary Stirewalt, 21, originally from Cary, N.C., was arrested Saturday and charged with murder, The News & Observer of Raleigh reports. He had been staying in a mobile home in Montgomery, Ala., with Daniel Turman, 43. Turman was dead when police arrived at the trailer Saturday morning, having been shot several times.

Police said Turman had opened his residence to Stirewalt because the latter had recently left home and had no place to live. An honor student and former Eagle Scout, Stirewalt had been studying technical photography at Appalachian State University in North Carolina until last summer. He interned at a photo studio in New York City during the summer and chronicled his urban adventures, which included a visit to the Stonewall Inn, on his blog, SassyGayHippie.tumblr.com.

Natalie Hayes, who manages the studio where Stirewalt interned, described him as "very helpful, very responsible" and "a people-sweet person." Of the shooting, she told The News & Observer, "I can only imagine that he did it in self-defense and that was his only option."

Police have not made any public statements about a possible motive for the shooting. Stirewalt was being held at the Montgomery County jail, under suicide watch.