A suspect in the shooting death of a Birmingham woman last month was captured Sunday hiding under a house in Mobile.
Birmingham police and the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force have been searching for 46-year-old Alton Dewayne Portlock. He is charged with capital murder in the Feb. 17 slaying of 49-year-old Felicia Ford.
West Precinct officers responded to a call of an altercation at a private residence in the 1700 block of 14th Way SW around 3:53 p.m. that Thursday, said Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Rod Mauldin.
Officers noticed an open apartment door at the scene and found Ford on the kitchen floor suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
The preliminary investigation into the shooting suggested the incident was domestic in nature, Mauldin said.
Investigators quickly identified Portlock as a suspect. Jail records list his address as the same as where Ford was killed.
U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said task force members in Mobile on Sunday received information that Portlock was in the 2400 block of Pinetree Drive in Mobile. They set up surveillance in the area.
While they were setting up surveillance about 2:30 p.m., they spotted Portlock in a black Toyota Corolla. Portlock spotted the officers as well, Keely said, and fled in the vehicle.
At some point, he stopped the vehicle and ran away on foot.
Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force members and the Mobile Police Department’s K-9 tracked Portlock to an abandoned house.
The tracking dog alerted handlers that the suspect was in the crawl space. Portlock was given commands to surrender and complied without further incident.
Keely said a gun was recover next to Portlock under the house.
Portlock is being held in the Mobile County Jail pending extradition to Birmingham. Court records show he was convicted of murder in Mobile County in 2001 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Records indicate that in the 2001 case, Portlock and the victim were arguing. As Portlock began to walk away, the victim called him an expletive, Portlock turned, stared at the 55-year-old handicapped victim, then shot him in the head three times and in the chest once.