2000 Birmingham homicides

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This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2000. A total of 89 homicides were reported within the city limits during 2000, and another was added to the tally in 2007. 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.

The homicide rate for the city of Birmingham, based on the 2000 census figure of 242,820 population, was 37.1 homicides per 100,000 population for the year. Birmingham had 81 homicides in 1999, a record low of 60 in 1984 and a record high of 141 in 1992.

Birmingham averaged 7.5 homicides per month, or one every 4.1 days.

52 of the 90 homicides (58%) took place within a residence, with 20 of them directly attributed to domestic disputes. Of the others for which the circumstances are known, at least 18 were initiated by robberies, 10 occurred during fights, 8 were directly related to the drug business, 2 occurred during burglaries, and 1 was caused by police. 20 cases were listed with no known motive.

Listing by date

  1. January 2: Jason Nealy, 26, died in gun battle with two men holding his family hostage.
  2. January 2: ___, died in gun battle with Jason Nealy.
  3. January 2: ___, died in gun battle with Jason Nealy.
  4. January 5: Former Trussville High School cheerleader Brittney Temples, 21, shot during a robbery on 21st Street South near Highlands United Methodist Church. Terry Bonner was charged with her murder, but was acquitted in 2001.
April 3: George Mcheard III, 21, father of 16, was gunned down while sitting in his car in a Pratt City apartment complex.
55. August 14: Marlon D. Green, 25, shot in the head while in his bed at the Uptown Apartments, unit 37 (map).
56. August 14: Taryll Green, 20, shot in the head after being pulled from a closet at the Uptown Apartments, unit 37 (map).
57. August 14: Fred Marshall, 18, found dead from a gunshot wound to the head along I-65 South near the Green Springs Highway exit. (map). He was acquainted with the victims in the apartment murders the same day.
October 1: Man killed at 2521 Tempest Drive in the Forest Hills Village apartments in Ishkooda.
October 16: Unnamed woman shot in home at 4614 Kingston Avenue.
75. October 19: Unnamed woman found dead in home on 5500 block of Avenue N in Ensley.
76. October 21: Unidentified male found dead on 1600 block of Avenue E in Ensley.
October 24: Julius Omar Turner, 21, found shot outside an apartment in 100 block of Taft Court Way in the Loveman Village housing project.
November 3: Badly-decomposed remains of Ron L. McAfee, 50, found in Avondale Park
November 4: Sonja Johnson, 24, found shot inside Southside apartment, apparently the victim of a murder-suicide.
November 4: Peter K. Munyiri, 30, found shot inside Southside apartment, apparently having committed a murder-suicide.
82. November 20: Jack Thompson, 27, shot while attempting to burglarize a home in the 4300 block of 3rd Avenue South.
83 November 22: Ronnell Burns, 26, shot in woods near Kimbrough Homes
November 26: Willie James Davis, 27, was shot and killed in parking lot of apartment complex on 7700 block of Oporto-Madrid Boulevard.
November 29: Terry Matthews, 53, killed in shootout with security guard at the Birmingham Greyhound Station. The guard was not charged.
December 14: Cornelius Wallace, 20
December 22: unnamed man killed in shootout that left two others wounded.
90. January 12: Christopher Blake Thompson, 2, found drowned on the banks of Five Mile Creek near Lawson Road in Robinwood. John Andrew Osburn was arrested and charged with murder after new information came to light in September 2006.

This list is incomplete and may never satisfy any subjective standard for completeness. You can help Bhamwiki by expanding it.

Responses

Police chief Mike Coppage cited Project Safe, the city's domestic violence program, and Project ICE, a program which leverages gun violations to remove career criminals from the streets, as major parts of the police departments response to the rising homicide rate. (Robinson - Jan 4, 2001). In November, Coppage reported that 66 of the 84 homicides to that point had been cleared by detectives, leaving 18 unsolved. He opined, "It's good we're catching these folks, but that's not the point. They have no concept of going to jail. It's all about 'How can I get even?'." (AP-2000)


References

  • "Slain father left 16 kids at age 21" (April 12, 2000) The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (August 15, 2000). "Police investigate spate of deaths, including killings." The Birmingham News
  • "Police chief accuses churches of not helping with violence prevention." (November 29, 2000) Associated Press/Times-Daily
  • Robinson, Carol (January 4, 2001). "City's 2000 homicide rate rises after 5 years of steady decline." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (September 19, 2007). "Father charged with murder in son's 2000 death." The Birmingham News

See also