Police question men in year's first murder

Just over 24 hours after a man gunned down a Dothan business owner, police were questioning three men as they worked to solve the slaying.

Dothan police officers and Houston County Sheriff’s deputies swarmed a purple car on Main Street in downtown Dothan on Thursday evening, taking three men in the car into custody for questioning.

Dothan Police Capt. Steve Parrish said detectives were questioning the men late Thursday in connection to the shooting death of 69-year-old Grace Bridges. Police said a patron of Bridge’s business, Dedert’s Furniture and Antiques, found her body inside the store on Wednesday.

Parrish said police believe someone gunned down Bridges during what he referred to as robbery gone bad between the hours of noon and 2:15 p.m. He said Bridges suffered a single gunshot wound to the
chest.

Parrish said police stopped motorists much of the morning and afternoon hours of Thursday in front of the store, located on South Park Avenue just off Fortner Street, next door to the Fortner Street convenience store.

“What we’re doing is asking motorists if they saw anything out of the ordinary,” Parrish said. “We’ve had a lot of calls about it, and a lot of public concern.”

Parrish said an $11,000 reward had been offered for any information leading to an arrest.

“This is the first murder we’ve had this year,” Parrish said. “It’s a serious matter and we’re doing everything we can to solve it.”

Remembered

The four daughters of Grace Bridges had many unanswered questions Thursday afternoon, and all hoped for a swift arrest to give them some closure. The sisters, including Terrie Drury of Alachua, Fla., Sherrie Foust of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., Wendy Northington of Ashford and Nita Bridges of Dothan, came together to remember their mother at her Woodland Drive home.

Drury said she and her sisters believed their mother is in a better place.

“We will surely be tested. Our faith will get us through this,” Drury said. “We’re going to get through it one day at a time. Mom always said that too. Time will heal.”

Nita Bridges remembered her mother’s strength. But she said her mother’s murder has also left her angered.

“She was the strongest woman I ever knew,” Bridges said. “I have no sympathy, empathy for this person. I just have hatred.”

Grace Bridges, born in Richmond, Ind., on June 27, 1940, lived much of the past 40 years in Dothan. Her daughters remembered her as a former girl scout leader, an excellent cook, especially of chicken and dumplings, and a compassionate former registered nurse. Northington recalled how her mother started the furniture store business with her husband, Don Dedert, after retiring as a nurse.

Foust last spoke to her mother Wednesday morning, likely only several hours before her death.

“I didn’t know it was going to be the last time I was going to talk to her, but it was special,” she said.

The sisters laughed and wiped a few tears from their faces in one of the places that gave their mother much enjoyment, her backyard. Northington recalled how her mother enjoyed gardening, and had recently planted strawberries in the backyard.

“There’s a song, Amazing Grace, and it truly fits her because she was amazing,” Drury said. “She was truly an amazing grace, and we’re going to have bag pipes at her funeral playing Amazing Grace.”