1979 Birmingham homicides

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 1979. It includes homicide cases occuring within the city limits during the calendar year. Note that not all homicides are ultimately ruled to be murder in courts of law.

Birmingham reported 93 homicide cases to the FBI in 1979, of which 84 (90.3%) were reported as "cleared".

Listing

• June 22: Bonita Carter, 20, was shot by police officer George Sands during a gun battle that followed a convenience store robbery in Kingston. Carter had not been involved in the robbery, but her shooting was ruled justified, provoking mass demonstrations and opening the door for police reform and the election of the city's first black mayor that fall.
• July 19: Chester Eugene Reeves, 38, was shot to death in his apartment at 1127 28th Street North. His roommate, Virgil Copeland Price, admitted to shooting him intentionally during an argument over a drink. He was found guilty of 1st degree murder before Judge Joseph Jaseper, and sentenced to life in prison. (report)
• July 21: Marilyn Copeland, 21, was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death in the Birmingham Board of Education parking deck at 601 20th Street North. Anthony Tyrone Washington was captured in July in El Paso, Texas, and indicted on a charge of 1st degree murder. (report)
• July 28: James Eddie Powell died from a stab wound in the abdomen suffered during a fight at the Little Bombers Lounge in Five Points South. Jackie Dale Atchley was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
• Fletcher Handley, a disabled man, was killed by Willie Clisby. Clisby, who was believed to have been mentally deficient, was later executed for the murder.
• November 29: Albert Eugene Ballard, 47, a Birmingham Police sergeant, was shot to death during a confrontation with a robbery suspect at the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 19th Street. Ballard had called out to Josephus R. Anderson from his patrol car to question him regarding the robbery of the Jefferson Federal Savings and Loan in the Jackson Building a block away. Anderson shot him three times at close range and then fled, exchanging fire with pursuers. Anderson was shot during the ensuing chase. After being captured he was treated at Cooper Green Hospital. His first three prosecutions ended in mistrials. He was convicted at his fourth trial in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. (report)

See also

• List of homicides in 1979

References

• Robinson, Carol (August 9, 2005) "Birmingham murder rate up 60% so far in '05". The Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (January 10, 2006) "Birmingham's Kincaid lifts Taser ban." The Birmingham News
• Robinson, Carol (September 19, 2006) "City's violent crimes up 5.8%." The Birmingham News
• FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, accessed via the Murder Accountability Project (murderdata.org)