Guard at Tuscaloosa's Short-Lived CRU Lounge Convicted of Murder

A security guard at a short-lived lounge in southern Tuscaloosa has been convicted of murdering a patron there just months after it opened.

As the Thread reported in 2024, the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said Aaron Dewayne Hill fatally shot 28-year-old Rashid Little at the CRU Lounge in Patriot Plaza on Highway 69 in January 2024.

Police said Hill fled the scene, but he was arrested soon after and charged with murdering Little.

The Tuscaloosa City Council unanimously voted to revoke the business license at CRU Lounge after seeing footage of the beating and hearing the details of the homicide during a hearing a few weeks after the shooting.

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Now, more than two years after the killing, a Tuscaloosa County jury has convicted Hill of murder.

The short trial began earlier this week, and the verdict was returned on Thursday, Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb announced on social media.

At the time of the killing, Hill was working for a company called Grizzly Security, which had been retained by the owners of the CRU Lounge to keep the peace there.

Little, who was gay, was beaten by Hill and other security guards for several minutes in the predawn hours of January 21st, 2024, before he was removed from the venue to its parking lot.

Hill followed Rashid Little outside and maintained that the victim spat on him before Hill shot him in the chest point-blank and fled the scene.

The jury was unconviced by arguments from attorneys representing Hill, and convicted him of murder Thursday in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Allen May.

A sentencing hearing is expected to be held next month.

For more exclusive coverage of crime and courts in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.