White couple moves from New Orleans to escape rising crime and settles in Montgomery, Alabama. From the frying pan into the fire…
Only a few days after announcing his wife is carrying their second child, Thomas Hand is murdered by a black male while preaching in a poor black neighborhood.
KILLED WHILE PREACHING: Miss America contestant had just moved with her husband to avoid crime before he was shot in front of toddler, by Frances Mulraney, The Sun, January 27, 2022
A FORMER Miss America contestant and her bodybuilder husband had recently moved to get away from rising crime before he was shot dead in front of their toddler.
Thomas Hand, 37, and his wife Christine Kozlowski, 33, were preaching in a poor neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama when a 17-year-old teen allegedly shot him out of nowhere.
Pregnant Kozlowski and the couple’s two-year-old son Roman were speaking to a family on the opposite side of the street when they reportedly saw a shirtless and mumbling Jerimiah Walker walk up to Hand before shooting him.
The couple’s Kevin Rayan told The Sun that they had recently moved to Alabama from Lousiana as Hand wanted a “better life” for his family.
“He told me how happy he was to get away from here because New Orleans crime was getting so bad,” said Rayan, who first met Hand at the gym.
“He wanted to get away from crime, have a better life out there and then he gets shot
“It’s crazy.”
Hand and Kozlowski would preach in different neighborhoods at the weekend, Rayan explained, and the couple spent all their time together while running their own businesses from home.
They had announced they are pregnant with their second child just two days before Hand’s tragic death.
The couple’s toddler Roman reportedly witnessed his dad being shot and attempted to comfort him as he lay on the ground.
Rayan said that the boy is still not aware he has lost his dad.
“She says no, he doesn’t know what’s going on,” Rayan told The Sun.
‘When it happened he was in the stroller and he was looking at his dad on the ground shot.
“He said, ‘Oh, you’ll be okay, dad’ that’s what he told him as he was dead on the pavement.
“That just sucks.”
FATAL GUNSHOT WOUND
Police and medics responded to the scene on Texas Street in Montgomery, Alabama, at around 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon after reports of a person shot.
They found Hand who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kozlowski, who was Miss Mississippi in 2008, confirmed her husband’s death in a heartbreaking Facebook post on Sunday.
“Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers during this time of the passing of my husband Tommy Hand,” she wrote.
“I feel the love and support from everyone and just wanted to let everyone know that indeed Tommy was shot and killed last night on Texas Street in Montgomery AL.
“I appreciate and welcome all of the messages, I’m just overwhelmed with all the questions and retelling of the details of what happened.
“I will at a later date release more information to explain everything to everyone.”
Rayan said that Kozlowski is “just trying to be strong for the little boy” after the tragedy.
“I don’t know how she’s doing it really. She’s trying to keep strong for her son.
“It’s a crazy situation.”
SUSPECT ARRESTED
Walker was arrested at the scene and is charged with capital murder.
Authorities said the secondary crime needed to charge a suspect with capital murder was shooting the victim in the presence of a child under the age of 14.
No motive for the crime has been revealed.
Cops continue to investigate as Walker is held in Montgomery County Detention Center.
Thomas Hand, a white male, was murdered in front of his child and wife by a black male in Montgomery, Alabama. She was carrying their second child.
Were white privilege real, or white supremacy a reality in the cradle of the so-called Confederacy, the murder of a white man by a black male in front of his wife and child would be cause for a national story.
