2007 Birmingham homicides
This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2007. It includes homicide cases occuring within the city limits during the calendar year. Note that a "homicide" refers to the cause of death as determined by a medical examiner, not to the commission of the crime of murder as charged by police and prosecutors.
With 6 homicides up to January 24, the city is on pace for 91 in 2007. If that trend were to hold true, the homicide rate for the city of Birmingham, based on the 2005 census estimate of 231,483 population, would be 39.3 homicides per 100,000 population for the year. Birmingham had 109 homicides in 2006, 105 in 2005, and a record of 141 in 1994.
Of the 6 recorded homicides, suspects have been reported identified in at least 3 cases, apprehended in 2, and charged in 2. One incident was a police shooting, which is under investigation.
Listing by date
- January 1: Wyteria Rogers, 20, found shot in car on 200 block of 93rd Street North (map). Gregory Johnson, 20, charged with murder. [1]
- January 1: Lavaughn Fortune, 34, victim of drive-by shooting at King City Food Mart at Warrior Road and Avenue P in Ensley (map). No arrest. [2]
- January 11: Michael Elmore, 33, stabbed at his apartment at 2341 8th Street Northwest ( Sun Valley Apartments) (map) after an altercation. Neighbor Nathaniel Gordon, 44, was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with murder. [3]
- January 19: Alberto Jackson, 39, shot by police during a confrontation on the 4100 block of 5th Court North in the Tom Brown Housing Community (map). He was taken to UAB Hospital and pronounced dead on the operating table. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the incident and the officer involved was placed on administrative leave. [4]
- January 20: Unidentified shooting victim found in burning car at Appalachee Street and 11th Avenue North (map). Artago Wilson, 26, of Ensley has been arrested and charged with murder. [5]
- January 24: Deston Lyons, 24, found in back yard of apartment building at 609 8th Street West (map). No arrest. [6]
Responses
Carole Smitherman, President of the Birmingham City Council proposed increasing staffing for the Narcotics and Vice Units of the Birmingham Police Department as an effort to reduce drug activity, which is thought to be a primary factor in the homicide rate. Mayor Bernard Kincaid replied that the size of those departments is already ideal, and was praised in a recent accreditation review. (Bryant - Jan 12, 2007)
The Council's Public Safety Committee met with John Sloan, Chair of the UAB Department of Justice Sciences, to discuss remedies for the city's crime rate which could be recommended to the Mayor and Police Chief Annetta Nunn. Sloan discussed steps the city of Boston took in the early 1990s to reduce homicide, which started with a detailed analysis of case data. Also at the meeting were Jefferson County Medical Examiner Robert Brissie, who reported that 41% of victims had drugs in their system and called the "drug mess" a "serious, serious problem." Nunn, also in attendence, brought the Council's attention to a 1997 crime reduction plan which has never been fully implemented. (Bryant - Jan 18)
On January 23, the mayor and council endorsed Sloan's study and approved spending as much as $150,000 to study police records and re-interview suspects, witnesses and family members. Councilor Joel Montgomery expressed the council's decision that the 1997 crime plan was "absolutely irrelevant to what's going on now." (Bryant - Jan 24)
References
- 2007 Press Releases from Birmingham Police Department
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 12, 2007) "Smitherman says homicides linked to drugs." Birmingham News.
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 18, 2007) "Council wants data on city's homicides." Birmingham News.
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 24, 2007) "Homicides focus of $150,000 plan." Birmingham News.