Cleveland, Tenn., woman charged with murder of her boyfriend

The front of the Cleveland, Tenn., residence where a fatal shooting took place Sunday night.

Alina Sherlin

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A woman is charged with murder after allegedly shooting her boyfriend to death Sunday night and then texting several people about it, authorities said.

Alina Sherlin, 43, was charged with first-degree murder when police found Robert D. Julian, 45, dead with an apparent gunshot wound in his chest at her home at 1908 Greenwood Ave., said Evie West, the Cleveland Police Department's public information officer.

"Last night, a little bit before 10 p.m., several friends of Ms. Alina Sherlin received texts from her [stating] that she had shot her boyfriend and killed her boyfriend," West said Monday.

Police officers made a welfare check on the residence in response to a 911 call by one of the recipients of a text. When Sherlin would not let officers enter, they went to the rear of the home and through a window saw the body of a white male on the floor with a rifle nearby, according to police.

The contents of Sherlin's text messages have not been released, West said.

A domestic argument involving Sherlin and Julian had occurred a few hours before the incident. Around 6:30 p.m. police verbally addressed a loud dispute at the residence, West said. When officers left the scene, all parties seemed to have calmed down, she said.

"We heard an argument outside involving a number of people in the evening," said Darren Miller, who moved next door to Sherlin a week ago. "We never heard a shot later, but it had been storming."

Site of Cleveland, Tenn., slaying

Miller described Sherlin as having a nice personality. Both Sherlin and Julian were motorcycle riders, he said.

According to the investigation, Sherlin and Julian had been in a relationship for a year.

Records show that a domestic assault complaint was filed against Sherlin in February 2012, alleging that she struck her 24-year-old daughter Jasmine Martin, who lived at the residence at the time. According to the affidavit of complaint, Sherlin allegedly put Martin in a headlock and punched her in the face with a closed fist.

Sherlin's residence is not far from where a Lee University student was found dead in his car last week. Police are awaiting the autopsy report in that case, West said.

"In this situation, it was intentional, it was a domestic," she said. "A bad choice was made, and therefore it affects a lot of people. I would say that Cleveland is a safe place to live. Unfortunately, bad things happen and you can't control that. You can't control people's emotions and how they are going to react to certain situations."

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.