Man pleads guilty to 2022 Montgomery murder

A man has pleaded guilty to a murder that happened in a Montgomery hotel parking lot in 2022.

Montgomery County District Attorney Azzie Oliver said Crawford Lee Bruce, Jr., of Hope Hull was charged with shooting and killing Marion Woodard in a parking lot on West South Boulevard.

Oliver said the shooting happened during an argument over Bruce’s girlfriend.

On February 26, 2022, Oliver said Bruce approached Woodward, who was sitting inside a car parked in front of the America’s Best Inn. Bruce confronted Woodard about talking to his girlfriend and the two men exchanged words. The argument escalated and turned deadly when Bruce pulled out a handgun and began shooting at Woodard, striking him once in the chest and killing him, Oliver said.

Bruce will be sentenced by Judge Brooke Reid at a later date. Because of his prior convictions, he could face life in prison.