The death penalty has been sought by Alabama prosecutors for 28-year-old black man named Rashad Dabney, who murdered 59-year-old retired university professor Julie Gard, after ambushing her while she was walking her dog.

Dabney was charged with murder during a kidnapping and murder during a robbery.

According to the criminal complaint, the ambush of the 59-year-old, who had worked at Auburn University in Alabama, occurred last Saturday Sept. 6 around 10:15 a.m. on a park trail she used on her daily walk with her dog.

As described in the indictment, the 28-year-old dragged the 59-year-old hundreds of yards away from the main trail into a wooded area, where he stabbed her multiple times.

After the killing, the 28-year-old allegedly took the keys to the 59-year-old’s car, which was later found abandoned in a creek a short distance from the park.

Dabney had been arrested in December 2023 in Virginia on charges of possession of a weapon, specifically a sawed-off shotgun, and was brought to court in 2016 after a speeding ticket.