Murder charges dropped against Alabama man for shooting unarmed drunk in restaurant

Charges have been dropped against a man accused of murder in connection with a fatal shooting in Scottsboro in April 2023.

Jackson County District Judge John Graham on Friday dismissed charges against 26-year-old Jerry Carl Hicks of Scottsboro, who was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 33-year-old Aaron Morris Nix at the LaCabana Mexican restaurant on Veterans Drive.

The incident occurred on April 7, 2023.

According to court documents, Hicks, his wife and six-year-old son went to the restaurant and ate a meal there. Hicks had not consumed any alcohol and was “completely sober,” the court found.

Nix, 33, entered the restaurant to pick up his niece, a waitress at the restaurant, after her shift ended and to use the restroom. A toxicology report from his autopsy found that his blood alcohol content was twice what would be considered drunk for a driver, court documents show.

According to Hicks, Nix loudly asked why Hicks allowed his son to go to the bathroom alone. The child said nothing happened in the bathroom.

Hicks testified that Nix had an altercation with him in the parking lot, yelling at him, then pushed him in the chest and punched him three times while Hicks' wife and child were in his vehicle. Hicks said he warned Nix that he had a gun – a 9 mm Luger that he had a permit to carry.

Nix's sister, who was in his car, said Hicks yelled racist slurs at her brother and fired more than one shot.

Hicks said he shot Nix when he saw the man put his hand on his waistband and thought he was about to shoot him. Nix was not armed. According to investigators, Hicks fired once, hitting Nix near the neck. He later died.

“The defendant was afraid for himself, his wife and his child,” Graham wrote in his verdict.