BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Top Photo: File photo of Hunter Tatum, accused of murdering his wife Summer in October of 2021.
After three days to empanel a 12-person jury with two alternates, the 19th Judicial District Attorneys Office began witness testimony this afternoon in Autauga County. Hunter Tatum, 26, is accused of shooting and killing his pregnant wife, Summer, in their home on Sunset Court in Prattville on Oct. 18, 2021.
When police and paramedics were called to the home after midnight Oct. 18, they found Summer on the floor in the bedroom, breathing but non-responsive. Witnesses testified Summer was breathing on her own, but moaning. After transport to the hospital the infant, named Everett, was delivered by emergency surgery. Both Everett and Summer died a short time later.
After hearing opening statements from the prosecution and defense teams, witnesses were called to the stand. Those included two police officers and a medic. Jurors were also able to view body camera, and police vehicle camera footage of officers arriving, and what they found upon their arrival.
Hunter Tatum was taken into custody immediately upon officer’s arrival, and placed in the back of a patrol car. That video of him alone in the police car was also presented to the jury. In that audio, Hunter is heard saying, “Why did you do this? You should have shot me.”
The final person to testify today was Eric Nolte, a staff engineer with Vivint Security. He was there to explain the audio recording that was presented to jurors from the security system in the home. He explained that with this type of system, audio is recorded 24 hours a day and stored for 30 days. Investigators were able to go through Vivant to save the audio which was presented in court.
In that audio recording, a female voice can be heard screaming and then appears to say, “Please do not kill me.” Shortly thereafter two gunshots are heard, followed by silence. Then a male voice is heard speaking on the phone to authorities notifying them of the shooting.
As the audio played in the courtroom, Hunter Tatum was sitting next to his attorneys, with his head down, holding a tissue, and wiping his eyes.
Prior to her death, Summer Knight Tatum posted on social media in early October 2021 about her pregnancy and her excitement in meeting her then unborn son. Many photos document her relationship and marriage to the suspect in her death.
Earlier in October, Summer wrote on social media, “We are on to our next adventure, and we’re more than halfway there! We had our anatomy scan last week and everything looks perfect so far. There were just a few things not visualized so we get to have another look in a couple of weeks. I am so blessed by this pregnancy, but it has been HARD, and at this point I can only assume it’ll be that way to the end. We are so excited to meet our baby BOY.”
Summer Tatum worked as a registered radiologic technologist. She was just 26.
The prosecution believes that Hunter Adams was having a “sexting” affair with a woman out of the country. Summer reportedly found messages on his phone and confronted Hunter about the inappropriate relationship, which led to multiple arguments in the days preceding the shooting.
Summer had cerebral Palsy and was six-months pregnant at the time of her death.
In earlier court proceedings, Hunter’s defense attorney at the time argued that both Hunter and Summer had a gun during the argument, but said there was no evidence that Hunter meant to kill his wife and unborn son. More evidence is expected to come out on that issue as the trial progresses into next week.
The prosecution team says it was a cold-blooded act by Hunter Tatum. They believe Summer was shot during an argument, because she had discovered the affair.
Robinson explained that the capital murder charge is justified because Hunter’s alleged actions not only resulted in two deaths but the heinous act in which they allegedly occurred.
“To me, if we are going to have the death penalty exist, it has to be for cases like this. We are tasked with speaking for the victims who cannot speak for themselves. We represent the weak, and we are talking about an unborn child. To me there is not a better description for that than with this case. The child did absolutely nothing wrong. Some may dispute the charge of murder for an unborn child. But to me there is no controversy, no gray area. This child was 100 percent a person.”
Robinson said in an earlier interview, “As with any case, we evaluate the truly cruel, atrocious and heinous crimes. This case has that. We have been in communication with Summer’s family and we will continue that communication throughout the process. This has been a very difficult time for them.”
Robinson said he has seen some truly evil cases, but “It is hard for me to remember one that shakes me to the core like this one. This is as real as it gets. It is completely cold blooded and how can anyone do that?”
Presiding over the case is Senior Circuit Judge Ben Fuller. The defense team includes attorneys Jay Taylor and Branch Kloss.
Court is expected to resume Friday at 9 a.m. and should be a long day with multiple witnesses testifying for both the prosecution and defense.
If found guilty of Capital Murder, Hunter Tatum could face the death penalty, or life in prison. His sentence, if found guilty, will be decided by the same jury.
