THE bodybuilder husband of a former Miss America contestant was shot and killed on Saturday just two days after they had announced that they are expecting a second child.
Thomas Hand, 37, and his former Miss Mississippi wife, Christine Kozlowski, were preaching in a neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama, when a teen reportedly shot him out of nowhere.
The couple’s two-year-old son was with them at the time.
Jerimiah Walker, 17, was arrested at the scene and has been charged with capital murder as cops continue to investigate.
As the story is unfolding, some tragic details about the young couple have emerged.
BABY ANNOUNCEMENT
Only two days before Hand’s death, the couple had revealed in a Facebook post that Kozlowski is pregnant with their second child.
“The next Baby Hand Coming August 2022. Rest up baby boy, Mom is going to need your help,” she wrote in a Facebook message to her son.
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
On the same day the Kozlowski announced the couple was pregnant, Hand made a sweet post commemorating the couple’s sixth wedding anniversary.
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Beauty, smarts, caring about others, being an incredible mother, wife, and the list could go on and on,” the young dad wrote.
“I never post much but wanted you to know today makes 6 years, happy anniversary Christine I love you very much, I can’t wait to meet our next baby this summer which is why I didn’t purchase you anything as I have already given you a gift.”
BODYBUILDING CHAMP
Hand was a former competitive bodybuilder and a fitness buff with his own supplement company.
“Like the old saying goes and it couldn’t be more true, ‘without your health, you have nothing,'” a statement on his company website, Hand Nutrition, says.
“Maintaining an active lifestyle and good well-being is very important to me.”
He was also Mr New Orleans in 2010.
‘DOING GOD’S WORK’
Hand was reportedly a born-again Christian and turned to religion in 2018.
He and his wife had a Saturday tradition of sharing their religious beliefs in low-income areas in Alabama.
‘NO MOTIVE’
Authorities have not yet said why they believe Walker targeted Hand.
No motive for the attack has yet been disclosed.
SON AND WIFE ON SCENE
Hand was gunned down in front of both his wife and toddler son.
The family was visiting an Alabama neighborhood to talk religion with strangers at the time of the attack.
AVOIDING HIGH CRIME
A friend of the couple’s told The Daily Mail that they had moved to Alabama from New Orleans to try and avoid the spiking crime rates in the city.
“It’s crazy because he was telling me every day, ‘I want to get away from this crap, go buy a house in Alabama,'” Kevin Rayan told the outlet. “And then this happened.”
