Man breaks into hotel room, shoots pregnant woman and kills her fiancé, Florida cops say

A man is accused of breaking into a couple’s hotel room, shooting a woman seven months pregnant and killing her fiancé on Valentine’s Day, Florida law enforcement said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has now announced the arrest of 33-year-old Alvin Douglas Gay Jr. on charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, armed burglary with assault or battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and tampering with evidence.

Minutes after midnight on Feb. 14, police received a call about a shooting at a hotel, according to an arrest report. Francis Bowling, 25, had collapsed in a hallway with a gunshot wound to his chest and died, while his 23-year-old pregnant fiancée was rushed to a hospital with a gunshot wound to her chest, police wrote in the report.

Investigators said leading up to the shooting, Gay entered the hotel, took the elevator to the third floor and walked up to the couple’s door before turning back around and going downstairs again.

He was later seen with a blue mask in his pocket walking back into the hotel through the lobby and going up the elevator to find other people were in the hall, police said.

He seemed to wait until the coast was clear, then he quickly approached the couple’s door and entered, police said.

Later, Bowling was seen clutching his chest running down the stairs to the second floor, then he collapsed in the hallway, according to police.

A person wearing a blue mask was seen going down the stairs and leaving through the emergency door before driving away in a Toyota Camry, police said.

When police spoke with the woman in the hospital, she said she fell asleep while Bowling was still awake, and they had left their door cracked open. Then she said she woke up to Bowling arguing with an unknown man inside the room who was wearing a blue mask, according to police.

She said the man “began firing upon her” and her fiancé, the report says.

Police said they began working with the U.S. Marshals to track down Gay, then they received an anonymous call from someone later revealed to be Gay, claiming he saw what happened from outside the couple’s hotel room.

U.S. Marshals found him during a traffic stop and arrested him.

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Man breaks into hotel room, shoots pregnant woman and kills her fiancé, Florida cops say."