Jury Returns Guilty Verdict In CRU Lounge Murder Trial

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa County jury on Thursday found former bar security guard Aaron Dewayne Hill guilty of murder in the fatal 2024 shooting of a man outside a Tuscaloosa hookah lounge.

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The verdict came after jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon following two days of testimony in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court before Judge Allen W. May Jr.

The jury — consisting of seven White women, four White men and one Black woman — returned the guilty verdict after roughly four hours of deliberations.

As Patch previously reported, Hill was initially charged with murder for the shooting death of 28-year-old Rashid Little outside CRU Lounge in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2024.

Prosecutors argued at trial that Hill, a former unlicensed security guard working at the now-closed establishment, intentionally shot Little during an altercation just outside the bar.

"The Violent Crime Unit and law enforcement partners established compelling evidence that secured this conviction and delivered justice," District Attorney Hays Webb said in a statement after the verdict was issued.

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Marshall argued that the evidence clearly showed Hill fired the fatal shot from just a few feet away after a confrontation that began inside the club and spilled outside.

Jurors heard testimony from multiple witnesses and reviewed surveillance footage and cellphone video from the night of the shooting. Prosecutors also presented forensic evidence linking blood found near the entrance of the bar to Little.

A medical examiner with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences testified that Little died from a gunshot wound that struck his heart, left lung and ribs.

Defense attorney Travis Juneau argued that Hill acted in the chaos of a fight and suggested his client was reacting to a volatile situation rather than intentionally committing murder. Juneau also insisted that the bar's lack of proper employee screening and its chaotic atmosphere set the stage for the fatal shooting.

Little was shot shortly after 1 a.m. outside CRU Lounge, a hookah bar located off Highway 69 in south Tuscaloosa. The business later had its license revoked by the Tuscaloosa City Council following the fatal shooting and other issues cited by police.

Standing at the defense table Thursday, Hill turned and told family members in the pews behind him "I love you."

Judge May said a sentencing hearing for Hill will be held in 45 days.

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