Life Without Parole For Man Convicted Of Murdering Ex-Girlfriend In Duncanville

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A man convicted of killing his girlfriend and leaving her body in an abandoned car on the side of a Tuscaloosa County highway received two life sentences on Wednesday.

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As Patch previously reported, Terek Herron-Antone's second trial for the murder of 27-year-old Syibrieka Underwood was held over three days January, with Circuit Judge Allen May presiding.

Judge May sentenced Herron-Antone to life without the possibility of parole for murder, while also handing down a life sentence for the charge of certain persons forbidden from possessing a fire arm.

The jury, consisting of six Black members and six White members, unanimously found Herron-Antone guilty of murder and an additional count of certain persons forbidden from having a firearm.

The jury had also been given the option to convict Herron-Antone of criminally negligent homicide but went along with the request of the District Attorney's Office to convict him of murder.

Herron-Antone was first developed as a suspect in the hours after Underwood's body was found slumped in the passenger seat of her car on U.S. Highway 82 near Duncanville in the summer of 2021, with a fatal gunshot wound to her right temple on July 28, 2021.

Underwood was found with no identification but the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit received its first major lead when another of Herron-Antone's ex-girlfriends provided an online tip after speaking with Herron-Antone in the hours following the murder.

The ex-girlfriend testified that Herron-Antone told her he killed Underwood during a physical altercation at his home in Duncanville when his gun went off as he was trying to hit her with his arm. He then allegedly told her he disposed of anything that could help identify Underwood and left her body in the passenger seat of her car on the side of the road.

Defense attorney Stuart Albea represented Herron-Antone at trial and argued that there was no evidence directly linking his client to the murder, pointing out that there had been no murder weapon recovered, no DNA or fingerprint evidence or witness testimony that proved it.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Marshall.

Prosecutors presented compelling evidence, with the most crucial being a circular "S" earring in Herron-Antone's yard — the same earring shown on Underwood's left ear in crime scene photos, which showed her missing the right earring on the same side where she had been shot.

The earring recovered at Herron-Antone's house was also near several blood droplets and one larger bloodstain that was later confirmed through forensic analysis to match Underwood's DNA.

Another of Herron-Antone's ex-girlfriends, who turned out to be the state's star witness, testified that he was involved in Underwood's murder. Tuscaloosa Patch has chosen not to publish her name out of respect for her safety.

She originally testified in May 2024 during the proceedings that ended in a mistrial and, during a pre-trial hearing on Monday, it was believed that she would be unwilling to testify a second time due to her mental state and the emotional stress placed on her in the aftermath of the shooting.

The witness described a complicated seven-year relationship with Herron-Antone, which ended after the eventual murder suspect allegedly cheated on her and gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

Still, the state's star witness appeared in court Tuesday to testify on the first day of the trial and described her interactions with Herron-Antone in the hours after Underwood was killed that prompted her to ask a friend to submit the anonymous online tip from her phone in the vicinity of the Skyland Walmart.

Indeed, she testified that she woke up to numerous missed calls from Herron-Antone, who said he wanted to come to her house. She said he sounded "frantic, in a rush," as he allegedly told her "I did something bad."

Phone records admitted as evidence show that Herrone-Antone called her a total of 23 times from more than one number between an hour and a half, beginning at 4:28 a.m. on July 28, 2021.

The female witness told the jury that she caved under Herrone-Antone's persistence to see her and told him she would meet him at her cousin's apartment complex — City Heights at Skyland. She chose this location because she did not want him to come to her residence and wanted others around so she felt safe.

Herrone-Antone was supposedly dropped off at the apartment complex, where she said he told her Underwood had shown up a few hours before at his home in Duncanville brandishing a knife and a physical altercation ensued. He then allegedly told the woman his handgun went off during the fight as he tried to strike Underwood with his arm.

The lone bullet, fired at a close enough range to leave a clear soot deposit and a star-shaped entry wound in her temple, likely killed the young mother instantly.

She said Herrone-Antone informed her that he had moved Underwood's car and hidden any personal effects that might help police identify her — a notion prosecutors insisted showed that he knowingly tried to buy as much time as possible to dispose of evidence, namely the handgun used to kill Underwood.

The jury deliberated late into the evening on Jan. 15 after two days of testimony and returned the next morning to issue the guilty verdict on both charges.

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