Local man shoots woman, kills self
By Tom Smith Times Daily.com Florence, Ala.

Police still are trying to sort out details that led to a shooting Tuesday, Jan. 9 that left one man dead and a woman in critical condition with gunshot wounds to her face. Florence police say Heather Spalding, 34, was shot at her Helton Drive apartment complex. She was taken to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital before she was transferred to Huntsville Hospital.

Huntsville Hospital officials said Spalding was in the facility's surgical intensive care unit in critical condition. She was shot twice in the face in what police are calling a domestic altercation.

The man accused of shooting her, 23-year-old Brent Ray McMillan of Swainsboro, killed himself inside the apartment, police said. McMillan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said Spalding was shot once in the jaw and once just under her eye with a .40-caliber pistol. Detectives said McMillan, a former U.S. Marine, had been living in Panama City, Fla., for some time and apparently drove to Florence to meet with Spalding. Authorities said a sheet of paper with driving directions from Panama City to Spalding's apartment was visible inside McMillan's Jeep Grand Cherokee that was parked in front of Spalding's apartment at 1540 Helton Drive.

According to friends of the victim, Spalding and McMillan had a relationship for about six months, but it had ended some time ago, authorities said. "From information we have gotten from witnesses, (Spalding) knew (McMillan) was coming to her apartment Tuesday,'' said Florence police Detective Suzanna Taylor.

Taylor said witnesses told police McMillan had been inside Spalding's apartment for some time when the shooting took place. "How long, we don't know, but witnesses told us (Spalding) had talked with them on the telephone Tuesday evening and McMillan was there then,'' she said.

Taylor said it is not known exactly where Spalding was when she was shot. Investigators found blood along the steps leading from the apartment to the parking lot. Witnesses living in the apartment complex told police they heard two to three shots.

McMillan's body was found on the living room floor, police said. The weapon, believed used in the shooting, was found next to the body. Taylor said an autopsy has been ordered.

Florence police Lt. Larry Martin said that when officers arrived at the apartment complex around 10:45 p.m., Spalding was outside in the parking lot.

"There are a lot of questions that we need to have answered, and the only way is to talk with the victim. Right now, that's not possible,'' Taylor said.

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