UPDATE: Suspect arrested in homicide investigation

UPDATE, Jan. 24, 2024:

On Jan. 19, 2024, Auburn Police arrested Derrick Lee Hightower, 36 years old, from Columbus, GA, on felony warrants charging him with two counts of capital murder and bringing stolen property into the State of Alabama.

Hightower has remained incarcerated in Jefferson County since his initial arrest on April 18, 2020. Hightower was taken into custody in Birmingham after a spree of murders and other crimes, including attempted murder of a police officer, that occurred in the Alabama cities of Auburn, Dadeville and Birmingham.

After pleading guilty to capital murder in a Jefferson County Court on Aug. 23, 2023, arrangements were made to transport Hightower to Lee County, Alabama, to face the charges stemming from the murder of Nancy A. Nash, who was 54 years old when her life tragically came to an end in Auburn on April 17, 2020.

Hightower was made eligible for transport from Jefferson County, and he arrived in Lee County on Jan. 19, 2024, when the outstanding warrants were executed. Hightower will be held at the Lee County Jail on no bond.

Additional warrants for Hightower are still outstanding from crimes committed in other jurisdictions, and the conviction resulting from his guilty plea in Jefferson County carries the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

All defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

UPDATE, April 19, 1:45 p.m.: On April 19, 2020, the Auburn Police Division arrested Kentrice Symonee Hill, 21 from Birmingham, Alabama in obedience to felony warrants for the offenses of Theft of Property 1^st Degree and Capital Murder. Hill was transported to the Lee County Detention Facility where she was further processed. Hill has no bond. This case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Auburn Police Detectives at (334) 501-3140 or at the tip line, (334) 246-1391.

UPDATE, April 18, 6:15 p.m.: On April 18, 2020, the Auburn Police Division obtained felony warrants for the offenses of Theft of Property 1^st Degree and Capital Murder for the arrest of Derrick Hightower, 32 years old from Columbus, Georgia. Also, a felony warrant for the offense of Theft of Property 1st Degree was obtained for the arrest of Kentrice Symonee Hill, 21 years old from Birmingham, Alabama.

The warrants stemmed from a death investigation conducted by the Auburn Police Division, with assistance from the Birmingham Police Department, Irondale Police Department, Dadeville Police Department, Colombus Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, State Fire Marshal’s Office, State Medical Examiner’s Office, U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Regional Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lee County District Attorney’s Office and the Lee County Coroner’s Office.

Hightower was taken into custody by the Birmingham Police Department for separate but related charges. Hill was taken into custody in Birmingham, AL and will be transported to the Lee County Detention Facility. Additional charges are anticipated. This case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at (334) 501-3140 or at the tip line, (334) 246-1391.

UPDATE, April 18, 1:40 p.m.: The Auburn Police Division confirmed the identity of the female discovered deceased in the 9500 block of U.S. Highway 280 as Nancy A. Nash, age 54, from Phenix City, Alabama. Police responded to the area after receiving an assist agency call in reference to a vehicle fire. A preliminary investigation into the incident indicated that the victim sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris responded to the scene and pronounced the victim deceased. The victim’s vehicle, a black 2019 Nissan Frontier, was missing from the scene and has since been located in Irondale, Alabama. The vehicle is being transported back to the Auburn Police Division for processing by the FBI.

The case remains under investigation by the Auburn Police Division, State Fire Marshall’s Office, State Medical Examiner Office and the Lee County Coroner’s Office. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at (334) 501-3140 or at the tip line, (334) 246-1391.

April 17: AUBURN, Ala.- On April 17, 2020, at approximately 6 a.m., Auburn Police responded to an assist agency call in the 9500 block of U.S. Highway 280 W in reference to a vehicle fire. Officers arrived at the location to assist the Farmville Volunteer Fire Department and discovered a white 2005 Chevrolet Silverado extended cab truck that was on fire. Additionally, officers located a 54-year-old female deceased, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds on the same property as the burned vehicle. The Auburn Police Division is investigating the case as a homicide. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

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