Nikki Redmond: Miss Savannah 2003 Trial, Acquittal, and Memoir

Sharron Nicole “Nikki” Redmond, crowned Miss Savannah in 2003, was acquitted of murder in March 2005 after a Chatham County jury accepted that she shot her boyfriend Kevin Shorter in self-defense. The Nikki Redmond Miss Savannah murder trial, broadcast live on Court TV, turned on whether Redmond fired out of jealousy after discovering Shorter was engaged to another woman, or out of fear that he was about to kill her.

What Happened the Night of the Shooting

On December 16, 2003, Redmond drove to the Savannah home of Rachel Hall to confront her about their shared relationship with Kevin Shorter, a 25-year-old former college football player.¹ Redmond and Shorter had been together roughly three years. During that time, Shorter had also been dating Hall, to whom he was engaged.²

Hall, the prosecution’s first witness, testified that Shorter arrived at her house and began yelling at Redmond. Redmond pulled a gun, and Shorter ran into a neighbor’s yard. Hall said she calmed Redmond down and Shorter returned to his car to leave. As Hall walked back toward the house with her back turned, she heard a shot. She turned and saw Redmond pointing a gun out her car window and Shorter stumbling, wounded, shouting for Hall to call 911.³

A single bullet struck Shorter in the right buttock and severed his femoral artery. He died from blood loss three days later at a Savannah hospital.⁴

The Charges

Redmond was initially charged with aggravated assault. When Shorter died, the charges were upgraded to malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.⁵ A murder conviction carried an automatic life sentence.²

The Prosecution’s Theory

Chatham County District Attorney Ann Elmore argued that Redmond had shot Shorter out of jealous rage after learning how deep his relationship with Hall really was. In opening statements, Elmore told jurors Redmond fired “vindictively” and compared the case to the Lorena Bobbitt attack, pointing to the bullet’s path into the groin area to argue the shooting was targeted rather than accidental.¹ Prosecutor Jerry Rothschild told the jury Redmond’s motive was possessiveness: “if she couldn’t have him, no woman would.”³

Prosecution firearms expert Chris Robinson testified that the fatal bullet was in “perfect condition” and showed no evidence of a ricochet, directly attacking the defense’s claim that the shot had bounced off Shorter’s car before hitting him.¹ Prosecutors also emphasized that Redmond could have driven away instead of firing.⁶

The Self-Defense Case

Defense attorney Michael Schiavone built the case on Georgia’s self-defense law. Redmond testified that Shorter had beaten her throughout their three-year relationship and that she carried a gun for protection.² On the night of the shooting, she said Shorter threatened to kill her and that she believed he was reaching for a gun in his car. She said she did not aim at him and meant the shot only as a warning.⁶

Crime scene photographs showed a dent on Shorter’s car where the bullet appeared to have ricocheted before striking him, supporting at least part of Redmond’s account.² Schiavone told the court Redmond “absolutely had a right to shoot him” because “her fear was reasonable,” and that her goal was “to scare him, to buy her some time to get away.”⁶

Two problems complicated the defense. Police never recovered a weapon from Shorter or his car.² And Hall testified that Shorter had previously been arrested for assaulting her in front of her parents, a fact that showed Shorter’s capacity for violence but documented Hall, not Redmond, as the prior victim.¹

The Verdict

The week-long trial ended on March 16, 2005. A jury of nine women and three men deliberated about nine hours over two days and acquitted Redmond on all counts. Schiavone told reporters afterward that “the whole key to the case was intent” and that the prosecution had failed to prove Redmond meant to kill Shorter.²

Jurors later indicated they believed Shorter had a gun during the confrontation, even though police found none.⁷ Even the prosecution acknowledged that Redmond “was very well defended.”⁵

The Wrongful Death Suit and Redmond’s Memoir

Shorter’s family, led by his father, Reverend Daniel Shorter, filed a $10 million wrongful death suit against Redmond after the acquittal.⁸ Redmond countersued for $2 million, citing years of physical and mental abuse.⁷ The wrongful death suit was eventually dismissed.⁹

Redmond moved to the Atlanta area and continued working in education.⁷ In June 2014, she published a memoir, Behind the Sash, presenting her own account of the relationship and the trial and pushing back on media portrayals of her as a “jealous beauty queen intent to kill.”¹⁰ The Shorter family criticized the book publicly, saying Redmond was profiting from Kevin’s death.⁹

1
CNN. Prosecution Presents Case in Beauty Queen Murder Trial
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NBC News. Beauty Queen Acquitted of Murder
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WTOC. Victim’s Fiancee Testifies in Miss Savannah Murder Trial
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CBS News. Beauty Queen Beats Murder Rap
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WTOC. Miss Savannah Not Guilty
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Washington Post. Pageant Queen Awaits Verdict in Murder Trial
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Augusta Chronicle. Former Miss Savannah Moves On After Acquittal
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WTOC. Miss Savannah Murder Trial
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WTOC. Family of Victim Responds to Trial Memoir
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WTOC. Former Miss Savannah Releases Memoir About Murder Trial