Authorities say 19-year-old Nadiya Perkins was fatally shot Wednesday at a Huntsville apartment complex.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville police said Friday that officers arrested a 20-year-old man on a murder warrant in the shooting death of 19-year-old Alabama A&M University student Nadiya Dayana Elise Perkins, who was found wounded Wednesday morning at an apartment complex on Julia Street.
Perkins’ death drew wide attention in Huntsville because investigators said the victim was a university student and the search for the suspect spread into another part of the city two days later, prompting a police briefing and added security steps at several schools. By Friday afternoon, police said the suspect had been taken into custody without incident, moving the case from an active manhunt into the early court and charging stage while detectives continue to sort out what led to the killing.
Police said the case began around 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 4, when officers were sent to the Candlewood Apartments near the intersection of Julia Street and University Drive after a report of shots fired. When officers arrived, they found Perkins suffering from a gunshot wound, according to police. Madison County Coroner Dr. Tyler Berryhill later confirmed that she died from her injuries and ruled the death a homicide. Authorities identified her as Nadiya Dayana Elise Perkins, 19, of Montgomery. In a message confirming her connection to the school, Alabama A&M President Daniel K. Wims said Perkins was a student at the university. Through Wednesday and into Thursday, investigators released few details about what happened inside or around the apartment, saying only that the shooting remained under investigation.
By Friday morning, the investigation had shifted from a death inquiry to a public search for a named suspect. Huntsville police said they received reports that the man they were seeking was in the area of Jordan Road and Shields Road, several miles from the apartment complex where Perkins was shot. Officers held a media briefing as the search unfolded and said multiple law enforcement agencies were involved. Police identified the suspect as 20-year-old Khalil Ahmad Barney and said he was wanted on a murder warrant. Authorities later said the search lasted for hours, mostly in the area around Shields Road and Jordan Road, before Barney was arrested just after 2 p.m. on Century Street. Police said the arrest happened without incident. Investigators have not publicly described the evidence they used to obtain the murder warrant, and they had not laid out in public by Friday what relationship, if any, Barney had with Perkins.
The case has also touched two communities at once: the city at large and the Alabama A&M campus. Perkins was from Montgomery, but officials said she was enrolled at Alabama A&M in Huntsville, a city where the university is a major presence and where student safety issues quickly become community-wide concerns. Wims’ confirmation that the victim was a student gave the killing added weight on and around campus, even though police have said the shooting itself happened off campus at an apartment complex. The early facts suggest a targeted homicide investigation rather than a broader public attack, but police have not yet explained the events that led up to the gunfire, whether anyone else was in the apartment, or whether witnesses heard or saw the shooting itself. Those missing details matter because they will likely shape both the criminal case and the university’s public response in the days ahead.
Friday’s search affected daily routines beyond the investigation itself. Police said five Madison County schools were placed on a secure perimeter during the effort to find Barney. The schools were Madison County Career Tech, MCVA, Mt. Carmel Elementary, PACE and Riverton Intermediate. A secure perimeter generally means instruction continues inside while outside movement is restricted as a precaution. Officials did not say that the suspect entered any of the schools, but the added security showed how seriously authorities were treating the reports that placed him in the Jordan Road and Shields Road area. As the suspect search expanded, police continued to tie the arrest back to the shooting on Julia Street. Even with an arrest, several procedural steps remain before the case becomes more fully public, including booking records, an initial court appearance and the likely release of charging documents that may offer a clearer narrative of what detectives believe happened.
For neighbors, students and families, the case has unfolded in pieces: first a heavy police response at an apartment complex on a weekday morning, then confirmation that a young woman had been killed, then the news that she was an Alabama A&M student, and finally a citywide search that ended with an arrest. Police have kept many facts close as detectives continue their work, and that has left major questions unanswered. Authorities have not publicly released a suspected motive. They have not said whether the shooting stemmed from an argument, a domestic dispute, an earlier confrontation or another circumstance. They also have not said whether investigators recovered a weapon, whether surveillance video played a role in the case, or whether any other person could face charges. Those unanswered points are common in the first days of a homicide case, when detectives often wait to file records in court before disclosing more.
The human loss at the center of the investigation remains the clearest fact. Perkins was 19, from Montgomery and attending Alabama A&M, a detail that quickly spread through local news reports and university circles. Berryhill’s ruling that her death was a homicide gave the case legal clarity even before police announced an arrest. Wims’ acknowledgment that she was part of the Alabama A&M community added a personal dimension for students, faculty and alumni following the case. Huntsville police, meanwhile, framed Friday’s developments in practical terms, saying the man they believed was responsible had been found and taken into custody without a confrontation. That outcome ended the search, but it did not end the investigation. Detectives still must assemble the full timeline, interview witnesses, test physical evidence and present the case for prosecution.
The next public milestones are likely to come through the courts and through any further statements from police and the university. A murder warrant has already been served, police said, but fuller records usually emerge as a defendant is booked, appears before a judge and is assigned legal representation. Those filings may answer the questions that remained open Friday afternoon, including how investigators linked Barney to the shooting and what they believe happened in the hours before Perkins was killed. Until then, the known outline is narrow but significant: a 19-year-old student was shot at a Huntsville apartment complex Wednesday morning, her death was ruled a homicide, and police said Friday they arrested a 20-year-old suspect after an hourslong search on the city’s northeast side.
Author note: Last updated March 6, 2026.