From The Tribune staff reports
HOOVER — Depositions filed in the investigation of Madison Shea Pilkington reveal that her dead body was discovered beaten to death, with a bag over her head.
Pilkington’s boyfriend of less than a year, Cortez Lenard Warren, was taken into custody after a police chase on I-65 this past Saturday. Warren, 32, is charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence, and possession of marijuana.
Pilkington, 25, was a graduate of Springville High School.
Charging documents state that investigators accuse Warren of using his hands and feet to kill Pilkington, and that they believe that there was a physical struggle of some kind in the apartment. Pilkington’s lifeless body was discovered sometime after 4 a.m. Saturday when a relative who had a key to her Hoover apartment let himself in after being unable to reach her.
The relative found Pilkington’s body hidden underneath a pile of blankets on the couch. A white plastic grocery bag had been placed over her head. First responders were called to the scene and Pilkington was declared dead at 4:24 a.m. on Saturday.
The scene at the apartment showed signs of an altercation, with the bedroom door kicked in and a broken table nearby. Officers found a gun at the scene, but the magazine had been removed and there was no round in the chamber.
Investigators found blood in some areas of the apartment. The mattress on the bed was stripped with the bedding placed in garbage bags near the front door.
“It appeared that someone tried to clean up the blood,’’ a detective wrote. “Warren was interviewed post-Miranda and admitted to having attempted to clean up the crime scene.”
Authorities from multiple local law enforcement agencies including Hoover, Irondale and Fultondale followed Warren on I-65 North and eventually were able to pull him over and take him into custody.