1980 Birmingham homicides

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 1980. It includes homicide cases occurring within the city limits during the calendar year. Note that not all homicides are ultimately ruled to be murder in courts of law.

Birmingham had 88 homicides in 1980.

Listing

1. January 3: Edward Lomax, 31, was found stabbed to death outside Center Street Middle School, near his home in South Titusville. His girlfriend was sought in connection with the death.
2. January 8: Archie James Reese, 46, was shot to death at his home in the Loveman Village public housing community. Witnesses said he had been threatening his wife. She was sought for questioning. (report)
3. January 9: Glover Nolan Merriweather, 36, was shot to death on the porch of his home at 1615 20th Avenue North. His mother, Annie May Gray, who lived in the other side of the duplex, was arrested and charged. (report)
4. January 12: Mary Morrow, 25, was shot to death during an argument at a home at 1404 25th Street North. An unidentified man burst out of the house and confessed to passersby before driving away. (report)
5. January 12: Albert Blackmon was died from stab wounds suffered during an argument outside his home at 2505 5th Terrace North. Adrian Eugene Coleman was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
6. January 14: Lila Hodges, 65, was shot to death at her home at 14 41st Place North. Her nephew was subsequently killed by responding police. (report)
7. January 14: Louis Lee Showers, 35, Hodges' nephew and killer, was shot to death in an exchange of shots with police after being forced out with tear gas. (report)
8. January 17: Carrie Goodgame, 46, died from a gunshot wound to the face during an argument at a house at 2233 26th Avenue North in North Birmingham. Lee Hatch surrendered to police at the scene and confessed to the shooting. (report)
9. January 19: Ronald G. Sweatt, 22, was shot to death during an attempted robbery at knifepoint of a man in a car parked at the western end of the Birmingham Municipal Airport's east-west runway. The shooting was determined to be justified. (report)
10. February 2: Reugen Martin Jr, 24, was shot to death in the back of the head after an argument in an alley off the 7500 block of Georgia Road. A dark red Pontiac Firebird was seen leaving the scene. No arrest. (report)
11. February 23: Lois Chaney, 49, died from a stab wound to the chest at her home at 729 Alabama Avenue in Arlington-West End. Her husband, Leslie Chaney, was arrested nearby and charged with murder. (report)
12. March 10: Hubert Scott was found shot to death behind the wheel of his crashed car on the 1100 block of Avenue F Ensley. A shooting had been reported just prior at 513 6th Street Pratt in Central Pratt. Scott's wife and mother-in-law were taken into custody for questioning, but no charges were immediately filed. (report)
13. March 16: Charles "Mother Dear" Johnson, 51, was found dead beneath a set of outside steps behind a store at 211 6th Avenue South in South Titusville. Johnson was unhoused and known in the neighborhood. He died from a broken neck. (report)
14. March 21: David Harris was shot to death during an argument with a decorating contractor at his home at 1504 31st Street Ensley in Ensley Highlands. Walter Davis Benford was taken into custody. (report)
15. April 4: Cheryl Smith, 19, was shot to death in the back seat of a car as she prepared to go to class at Lawson State Community College with two classmates. Her ex-boyfriend, Reginald Miller, surrendered to police and was charged with murder. (report)
16. April 6: Gary Stickradt Jr, 4, wad found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in the back seat of a car which was involved in a traffic collision. His mother, Janet Stickradt, was driving and had likely passed out from the same cause. Investigators learned that she was aware that the car had a malfunctioning muffler before setting off from Illinois to move to Birmingham after a divorce. She was indicted on a manslaughter charge by a grand jury. (report)
17. April 16: David Lee Jackson, 23, was shot to death at his apartment at 1636 18th Place North in Fountain Heights. His girlfriend Beverly K. Harris called the Birmingham Crisis Center to report her crime. She was arrested and charged. (report)
18. May 13: A 76-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run on 1st Avenue North.
19. May 18: Phyllis Carter, 35, also known as Debbie Hart, was found dead from gunshot wounds in the bathtub of room 912 at the Redmont Hotel, which she had occupied for several days. A suspect was arrested, but released without charges for lack of evidence. (report)
20. June 3: Oliver Anderson, 50, was shot to death in an alley near his home on the 500 block of Alpha Street in North Titusville. Joseph Turner was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
21. June 3: J. C. Underwood, 30, was shot to death by officers responding to the report of Anderson's shooting. He was crouched behind a car holding a handgun. He refused to drop his gun and had raised it to take aim when he was shot and killed by police. (report)
22. June 4: Henry Beavers, 25, died from a gunshot wound suffered in a scrap with his brother. He was throwing rocks at his older brother, John Beavers at 508 6th Avenue North in Smithfield. John drew his .22 pistol and fired off a few shots, unintentionally hitting and killing his brother. He was held overnight during the investigation, but released without charges. (report)
23. June 23: Terry Dwain Diack, 31, was shot to death at an apartment at 2332 10th Court South in Five Points South. He was attempting to disarm a man who knocked at the door and threatened him with a shotgun. Vincent Walker of Huntsville was identified as a suspect and charged with murder. (report)
24. July 2: Thomas Wooden III was killed during an argument which started with someone stepping on another man's foot at the Gaston Lounge. Larry Grady was charged with his murder. (report)
25. July 8: Cecil Annette McKinstry, 22, was shot to death while in a car on Birmingham's northside. Another woman was injured. (report)
26. July 12: Frieda Price, 28, died from injuries suffered in a fire at a home at 1205 16th Street South in Five Points South. She had stopped to check on the home, owned by a friend, and encountered an arsonist who trapped her inside. She managed to escape through a kitchen window. (report)
27. August 23: Gregory Moore, 21, was shot to death during a robbery at his home at 1512 Arthur Shores Drive. A teenage suspect, described as a member of the Black Alpha Phi street gang, was arrested and charged. (report)
28. August 6: Debra Jo Beason, 28, was found stabbed and strangled to death at her apartment on 13th Place South. Jason William Riley Jr (born John Edward Traylor, also known as Elton Fairchild) was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. (report)
29. August 8: Rosa Netters, 90, was beaten to death during a robbery at her home at 1824 Center Street South in South Titusville. Her brother was also injured. (report)
30. August 16: Harold Blankenship, 18, was killed during a dispute at Inglenook Park. He took offense at being asked for drugs and smashed a car window with a wrench. The car owner then returned with a shotgun, which reportedly went off when Blankenship struck the barrel with a wrench. Richard Latimore was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
31. August 17: Princeton Anthony Goodman died from a gunshot wound suffered during an argument over a debt at a shothouse on the 6500 block of 3rd Alley North in Wahouma. Benjamin Banks was charged with murder and turned himself in. (report)
32. October 8: James Richard Fielden, 20, died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head suffered during a dispute between employees of Link Shows at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in Central Park. Another worker, Steve A. Irvin, was arrested and charged with murder. He claimed that the shooting was accidental. (link)
33. October 27: Ronald Bryant was found shot to death across the street from a house at 1820 24th Street Southwest in Powderly, believed to be a "drop house" used by drug dealers. (report)
34. October 27: Cora Mae Edwards was found shot to death inside the same house.
35. November 26: Milton Mayfield, 79, was shot to death during a robbery at Eugster's Meat Market in Powderly. Chastine Lee Raines and Darryl Travis Watkins were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
36. December 19: John Doyle Pennington, 51, was shot to death during a robbery at his George's Food Store at 513 23rd Street North in Central City. (report)
37. December 25: Edward Alley Jr, 34, a Birmingham Police Department patrolman, was shot while attempting to question two robbery suspects. Chastine Lee Raines, Benny Ray Jones and Darryl Travis Watkins were charged with the murder. (link)

References

• Birmingham News reports accessed at the microfilm room of the Birmingham Public Library

See also

• List of homicides in 1980