Court filing: Man dead in Montgomery shooting was kidnapping suspect

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Court filings are shining new light on the recent fatal shooting on Alabama River Parkway in Montgomery.

According to the documents, the shooting that claimed the life of Eric Surles, 19, of Montgomery, happened as he and a co-conspirator were committing a kidnapping.

The co-conspirator, Christopher Rodgers, 29, of Peterson, Alabama, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to Surles’s death.

Rodgers was taken into custody Wednesday by a U.S. Marshals task force and placed in the Montgomery County Detention Center.

Documents did not indicate whether Surles was shot and killed by Rodgers or the kidnapping victim. However, according to state law, because the death happened during the commission of a felony, Rodgers can still be charged with murder regardless of whether he fired the fatal shot.