Family of slain Montgomery police detective speaks about domestic violence

The family of a Montgomery police detective who was a victim of domestic violence talked to Action 8 News about their loss.

Detective Tanisha Pughsley was shot and killed on July 6, 2020. This week, Brandon Webster was convicted in her death and sentenced to life in prison. According to evidence presented at trial, Webster and Det. Pughsley had been in a dating relationship that turned abusive. About a month prior to her death, Det. Pughsley had been granted a restraining order against him.

Pughsley, 27, had been a member of the Montgomery Police Department since 2016. A native of Chicago, she came to Alabama for college and earned her degree in criminal justice from Alabama State University.

Detective Tanisha Pughsley/Source: Montgomery Police Department

“You know your child is supposed to bury you,” Pughsley’s mother Dr. Sharon Pughsley said. “I only have two children and one part of my heart died that day, and it will never be the same,” she told Action 8 News after arriving in Montgomery from Chicago to attend the trial.

“To lose a child, I think I could have accepted it if she was in the line of duty, but to lose your child in her own home, that bothers me, and I have to live with that every morning,” she said.

Prosecutors say Webster had gone through the back door of Det. Pughsley’s home in the Park Lake neighborhood with an AR-style rifle and opened fire on her and her guest. After a struggle over the gun, the guest ran out. That’s when prosecutors say Webster shot an unarmed and defenseless Det. Pughsley in the chest.

“I feel guilty because the night of that date, she called me and I was asleep,” Det. Pughsley’s brother Dandre Jenkins said. “The next call I got was that my sister was dead.

“People need to understand if the relationship is over, the relationship is over, there’s somebody else out there for you. You don’t have to kill somebody because they don’t want to be with you,” he said.

Det. Pughsley’s mother is now wanting to help others who may be in the same situation.

“Out of this tragedy, I started an organization for domestic violence called Tookie’s Voice, because that’s her nickname, to be the voice for people that are going through this and try to just save somebody else’s life.”

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, the One Place Family Justice Center can help. Call (334) 262-7378 or the 24-hour crisis line at 1-800-650-6522.