2012 Birmingham homicides

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Map of Birmingham homicides in 2012

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2012. It includes homicide cases occurring 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.

77 homicides were reported in the city during 2012. Based on the 2012 census estimate of 206,926 population, that represents 37.2 homicides per 100,000 population for the year. Birmingham had 64 homicides in 2011, 64 in 2010, 72 in 2009, and a record of 141 in 1992.

Birmingham averaged 6.4 homicides per month, or one every 4.7 days. There were 8 incidents in January, 3 in February, 5 in March, 4 in April, 7 in May, 7 in June, 8 in July, 1 in August, 5 in September, 7 in October, 11 in November and 11 in December. The longest stretch without a homicide was the 31 days between March 23 and April 23. Nineteen deaths were reported on Sundays, 16 on Mondays, 7 on Tuesdays, 8 on Wednesdays, 4 on Thursdays, 13 on Fridays and 9 on Saturdays.

Of the 77 reported homicides, suspects have been identified in 48 cases, apprehended in 47, charged in 35, and convicted in 17, including nine pleas to lesser charges. Not counting five homicides which were ruled justifiable by prosecutors, and three other cases not charged as felonies, the police department acknowledges 69 murders in its own tabulation for the year. Seven of the chargeable homicides were caused by reckless driving rather than malice aforethought.

At least 60 of the 77 reported homicides were shootings, 8 resulted from auto collisions, 3 resulted from blunt force trauma, one was caused by strangulation, and one was a stabbing. Eleven deaths came during robberies, 6 at altercations at places of nine incidents took place on the streets, 27 at private homes, 8 at businesses, 8 at apartment complexes, and 1 at a public park. 68 victims were males and 9 were females.

Listing by date

  1. January 3: Cordarious Hawthorne, 23, was shot to death during an altercation at the Emerald Parc Apartments at 648 Earline Circle in Spring Lake. William Howard turned himself in to police the same day and was charged with murder. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to a 20-split-5 sentence by Judge Clyde Jones. (link)
  2. January 4: Cedric Dickson, 54, was ambushed and shot to death in his driveway on the 3700 block of Laurel Avenue in Riley-Travellick. No arrest. (report)
  3. January 16: Thomas Anderson, 39, was shot to death during an altercation at 2304 16th Street North in Acipco-Finley. James Powell, an acquaintance of Anderson's involved in an ongoing dispute, pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. (report)
  4. January 29: Ronnie Render, 42, one of five victims found shot to death at a home at 3113 Avenue S in Ensley Highlands after a report of a robbery in progress. Artavius Underwood, Rashad Stoves and Reginald Mims were each charged with 5 counts of capital murder. Underwood pleaded guilty in 2014 and was given a life sentence by Judge Stephen Wallace. Stoves was convicted of five counts of felony murder and one count of reckless manslaughter in November 2014 and was given six life sentences, to run concurrently. The reckless manslaughter charge was later overturned as "double jeopardy." Mims pleaded guilty to six counts of felony murder in return for a 25-year sentence. (report)
  5. January 29: Charles "C. J." Render, 21, nephew of Ronnie, one of five victims in Ensley Highlands robbery
  6. January 29: Jeffrey Davis Jr, 23, the third of five victims in Ensley Highlands robbery
  7. January 29: Jonathan Sanchez, 23, the fourth of five victims in Ensley Highlands robbery
  8. January 29: Demetrius Sanford, 19, the fifth of five victims in Ensley Highlands robbery
  9. February 3: William Leon Mason, 42, who had spent his evening harassing customers at beauty salons, pulled a knife on the owner of Soul Ville Head Shop in North Birmingham and was shot to death. No charges are expected to be filed. (report)
  10. February 9: Isaac Spencer, 44, previously convicted for attempted murder of a police officer and indicted for trafficking cocaine, was found shot to death on his front porch 825 23rd Street Southwest. No arrest. (report)
  11. February 12: Diane Letresse Moss, 32, was killed in a shooting outside a nightclub at 1105 3rd Avenue West. Two others were wounded. No arrest. (report)
  12. March 5: Victor Cunningham, 28, was shot to death as he arrived at his home at 927 Garden Street in Southwest Birmingham. No arrest. (report)
  13. March 9: Lawrence L. Martin, 50, was killed when his car was struck by another vehicle on the 8900 block of 1st Avenue North in East Lake. Jessie Cook had fallen asleep at the wheel and crossed the median. She was charged with misdemeanor criminally negligent homicide. (report)
  14. March 12: DeMarcus Horton, 19, was shot to death on the porch of a house at 4817 Avenue V near Five Points West. Two other victims are expected to recover. No arrest. (report)
  15. March 16: Acquanita Rucker, 40, was found dead in the 1100 block of 47th Street North. No arrest. (report)
  16. March 23: Tyral Eugene Peoples, 19, a suspected member of a Hueytown-based drug ring, was found shot in his car at 1420 44th Street in Ensley. No arrest. (report)
  17. April 23: Jacobi Bennett, 29, was shot to death at a house on the 5000 block of 43rd Place North during an incident in which a woman was also injured. Harold Burch, the woman's ex-boyfriend, was convicted on a charge of capital murder in the court of Judge Teresa Pulliam. He was found ineligible for the death penalty due to mental retardation and sentenced to life in prison. (report)
  18. April 26: Luther Lee Harrell, 39, was shot to death at 728-A 6th Avenue West. Edward Lee Burrough was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
  19. April 28: Ja'Quares Cortez "Little 'Tez" Walker, 13, was shot to death when he attempted a carjacking in the parking lot of the Skyview Condominums off Robert Jemison Road. Prosecutors determined that the shooting was justifiable and no charges were filed. (report)
  20. April 30: Jonathan Dubose, 44, was found shot to death on the 4300 block of Park Avenue Southwest. No arrest. (report)
  21. May 4: Charita Annette Vazquez, 49, was killed in a hit-and-run at 3:30 AM on the 1300 block of 31st Street North. No arrest. (report)
  22. May 7: Titus Johnson, 28, was found dead inside a burning car on the 5700 block of Avenue N in Ensley. No arrest. (report)
  23. May 25: David Winston, 27, was shot at the Inn Town Suites on Huffman Road following a verbal altercation with a security guard. The guard, Pierre Myles, was arrested and charged with murder. He pleaded guilty in April 2013. (report)
  24. May 27: Ozia Angelic Lopez, 27, was killed when the car she was riding in crashed into a house on the 1700 block of Jefferson Avenue Southwest. The driver, Eric Christopher Brogan, was found to have been intoxicated and was charged with murder in January 2013. (report)
  25. May 27: Ralph Woodfin Jr, 39, was shot to death on the 2300 block of 9th Avenue South in the Southtown Court housing community. Christopher Gallant of Montgomery, who had apparently gone to Southtown with his girlfriend to purchase drugs, was charged with capital murder. He was arrested outside a Circle K on Dauphin Island in July. He was convicted of murder in Laura Petro's court in February 2014 and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was upheld on by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in 2015. (report)
  26. May 30: Mark Nelms, 50, was killed when a pickup truck driven by Jason Dale Lund lost control on I-65 South near University Boulevard and flipped over the median, landing on a northbound van. Because investigators determined that he was drunk and driving recklessly, Lund was charged with reckless murder. (report)
  27. May 30: Alexander Tombrello, 18, was Lund's passenger in the collision that also killed Nelms. Lund was also charged as reckless murder in his death. (report)
  28. June 1: Bernard Williams, 35, was found shot in the doorway of an apartment at 4333 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North. TaJuan Gosha was arrested and charged with capital murder. Before trial he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced by Judge Teresa Pulliam to a 20-year split sentence with three years to serve. (report)
  29. June 5: Brandon Dozier, 16, was shot to death at 1741 Lee Avenue Southwest. Damien McKenzy, Alfred Davis and Arnold Bracy, all teenagers, were arrested and charged with capital murder. McKenzy and Bracy pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 25 years(report)
  30. June 6: Enrico Lynel Townsend, 25, died from injuries sustained when he was dragged along the 1800 block of 18th Place North with his arm trapped in the window of an SUV, and then shot in the head. Cordaryl Craig was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
  31. June 10: Robert McGlown, 34, was killed in an assault launched from three vehicles while outside an apartment at Tom Brown VIllage on 41st Place North. Demarcus Hendricks was arrested and charged with capital murder. (report)
  32. June 19: Deandrea "Teddy T" Thomas, 22, was shot to death on the porch of a home at 556 Avenue V in Central Pratt. A suspect turned himself in to police, but investigators determined that he had acted in self defense and released him. (report)
  33. June 22; Mitchell Hanby, 22, was shot to death during a larger altercation near Terrace S and 47th Street Ensley. The shooter was taken into custody, but released after investigators determined that the individual acted in self-defense. (report)
  34. June 26: Terrell Ellis, 22, was shot to death while riding in a car on the 1500 block of Avenue I in Ensley. Shirell Smith, 16, and Carlton Cameron Davis, 17, passenger in the back seat of the car, were charged with capital murder. Davis, the suspected shooter, pleaded guilty in Clyde Jones's court in November 2013 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Smith was convicted of capital murder in April 2014 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. (report)
  35. July 1: William James Evans, 63, was shot to death during an argument at his house at 120 68th Place North. Charles Edward Debruce a family friend, was wounded in the shootout and taken to UAB Hospital, where he was arrested and charged with capital murder. Debruce was acquitted at trial in Judge Bill Cole's court in April 2014. His defense cited the Alabama Stand Your Ground Law. (report)
  36. July 9: Reginald Leon Harper, 32, died at UAB Hospital a day after being shot in a unit of the Parkview Apartments on the 2500 block of Warrior Road. Two other men were wounded in the incident, and one of them, Carlos Omar Smith, was thought to have instigated the fight. He was charged with capital murder on July 16. The charge was reduced to felony murder in light of ballistics tests showing the fatal bullets came from another man's gun. He was found not guilty at trial before Judge Bill Cole in August 2016. (report)
  37. July 10: A male employee of a car wash at 517 18th Street Ensley was found shot to death. A suspect was taken into custody, but released after the shooting was ruled justified. (report)
  38. July 13; Richard Carter, 19, was shot near Mike's Crossroads on the 100 block of 3rd Avenue North and taken to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. De'arrius Martez Portis was arrested in September 2014 and charged with capital murder, but the prosecution failed to get an indictment from a grand jury to go to trial. Portis was arrested again in January 2016 on several charges. He was shot to death in 2016. (report)
  39. July 19: Graylin Lewis, 42, was assaulted and shot while sleeping in his truck at George Ward Park. He was able to call 911 and described being attached and robbed of his wallet and GPS by three black males. He died later at UAB Hospital. No arrest. (report)
  40. July 20: Karlos Bolden, 29, succombed to wounds suffered in a shooting on the 2300 block of 9th Avenue South. No arrest. (report)
  41. July 29: Frank White, 73, was found beaten and suffocated on the floor of his home at 1505 Lafayette Street. Suspect Abron Sigundo Tinsley, an acquaintance of White, turned himself in to police and was charged with murder. The charge was elevated to capital murder during a burglary by a Grand Jury. He accepted an offer from prosecutors to plead to reckless manslaughter. As a habitual offender, he was sentenced by Judge Laura Petro to twenty years in prison. (report)
  42. July 31: Aaron Carroll Jr., 80, was found dead inside his home on the 4200 block of F. L. Shuttlesworth Drive. A female suspect was arrested and charged. (report)
  43. August 24: Octavius Cooper, 29, was struck by a stray bullet during a shoot-out between two other males at 913 46th Place North in the Kingston Homes project. John Crumpton and Byron Devon Jackson were arrested and charged with attempted murder and murder. The charges against Crumpton were dismissed in 2013. In September 2014 Jackson accepted a deal to plead guilty to reckless manslaughter, and was given a 20 year sentence by Judge Tracie Todd. (report)
  44. September 3: Clarence Allen Jones, 56, was found shot to death under a tree in a vacant lot at 14th Street and 10th Court North. Harry Dwight Jackson, who had been stabbed multiple times by Jones in a fight a few days before, was arrested and charged with murder. He claimed self-defense, but was convicted in Clyde Jones's court in February 2014. Jackson died of cancer at the Donaldson Correctional Facility in May of that year. (report)
  45. September 15: Antonio Rivers, 35, died at UAB Hospital from wounds suffered in a shooting at the Westbury Apartments on the 3300 block of Avenue S in Ensley on September 7. Emil Lajuan Chapman was arrested in Hoover and charged with capital murder. He accepted a deal to plead guilty to the lesser charge of felony murder and was sentenced by Judge Laura Petro to 30 years in prison. (report)
  46. September 19: Devondae Martez Jones, 18, was shot to death on the 1100 block of 25th Street in Ensley. Stephan Calhoun was arrested and charged with murder in early December (report)
  47. September 24: Reginald Robinson died from stab wounds suffered in the front yard of a house at 625 4th Court North. No arrest. (report)
  48. September 29: Stephen James Starks, 26, was killed in a shootout at 813 50th Street North. Jeremiah Robinson, who was wounded in the leg, was subsequently charged with murder. (report)
  49. October 1: Amber Nicole Verus, 23, was killed at the intersection of Birmingport Road and Minor Parkway when their car was struck by another car fleeing Dora police after a robbery in Cordova. Jeffrey Howe and Dominique Rashad Smith were each charged with felony murder. (report)
  50. October 1: Ryan Max Culwell, 20, was killed in the same collision.
  51. October 1: Rogue Marie Culwell, 10 months, was killed in the same collision.
  52. October 4: Starlanda Brown, 54, was found beaten to death in his apartment at 518 Center Street South in South Titusville following an apparent robbery. James Edward Henry was arrested and charged with capital murder in June 2013. He pleaded guilty to felony murder in June 2016 and was sentenced to life. (report)
  53. October 6: Annie Wilson Sharpe, 83, was found dead at her home on the 4500 block of 12th Avenue in Wylam. The death was originally believed to have resulted from natural causes, but the coroner found evidence of blunt force trauma and ruled it a homicide. (report)
  54. October 20: Forenzo Tyre Walker, 22, was shot to death during a brawl outside the CC Nightclub at 1201 Bessemer Road. Four others were wounded by gunfire, and a Birmingham Police officer discharged a weapon during the incident. Jeremy Cox, one of those wounded, was later charged with murder, though he did not fire the fatal shot. (report)
  55. October 29: Rodney Johnson, 19, was found wounded by gunshot in a car pulled over for running a traffic light on the 1900 block of Woodland Avenue. He died later at UAB Hospital. No arrest. (report)
  56. November 5: Jarvis Montrell Dudley, 33, was found shot to death inside a Mazda 626 at Avenue U and Ninth Street Southwest in West Birmingham. Jaymee Smith, who had already been charged with attempted murder for wounding Dudley in May, was charged with capital murder and turned himself in. A second suspect, Jarvis Bell, was arrested and charged with capital murder in December. He was expected to testify against Smith, but was shot to death in an apparently unrelated incident in March 2015. Smith subsequently pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and was given a 15-year split sentence with three years to serve by Judge Virginia Vinson. (report)
  57. November 7: James Otis Holmes, 21, was found dead from a gunshot wound in the yard behind a home on the 4800 block of Terrace R in Ensley. Holmes had pleaded guilty to the January 2011 murder of Donald Durr Jr. No arrest. (report)
  58. November 9: Randell "Wren" Sanders, 38, a barber at the Still Stand'n Barber & Style Shop on Oporto-Madrid Boulevard was shot to death in the store. No arrest. (report)
  59. November 10: Felix McKinney, 69, was found strangled to death in his home on 49th Court North in Inglenook during a robbery. Charles Mickens was arrested in March 2014 and charged with capital murder. (report)
  60. November 14: Justin Johnson, 24, was found shot to death in his car on the 2900 block Avenue F in Ensley. No arrest. (report)
  61. November 16: Unnamed male was found dead at 211 Coolidge Courtway in the Loveman Village housing project. A suspect turned himself in to Forestdale police. (report)
  62. November 24: Dolouis Robinson, 29, was shot four times at 24 4th Court West in a domestic dispute over a cell phone bill. She was taken to UAB Hospital and pronounced dead there. Walter Wallace Sr was charged with murder, but convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter in October 2014. He was sentenced in December to 30 years in prison by Judge Laura Petro. report)
  63. November 25: Timothy Kimble, 48, was shot to death in a gunfight that erupted at 2016 15th Way Southwest over a towed car. No arrest. (report)
  64. November 25: Roderious Smith, 21, was shot to death in the same gunfight. No arrest.
  65. November 25: David DeRoncey, 28, was found shot to death inside his car on I-65 near the University Boulevard exit. The death is being investigated as a homicide. No arrest. (report)
  66. November 29: Emanuel Brock, 39, was shot in the chest when he attempted to rob a prospective drug buyer on the 4700 block of Terrace Q near Ensley's Central Park. The shooter was also injured and was taken into custody shortly afterward. (report)
  67. December 4: Pierre Lavelle Goodman, 25, was found shot on the 6500 block of Joppa Avenue and pronounced dead at UAB Hospital. No arrest. (report)
  68. December 7: Timothy Stewart, 31, was found shot to death in a car that pulled up to the Brookside City Hall. Interviews with the driver, also wounded, revealed that the shooting took place on the 200 block of Dugan Avenue in Birmingham. No arrest. (report)
  69. December 8: Desean Grice, 42, was shot to death on the 200 block of 2nd Avenue Southwest. No arrest. (report)
  70. December 8: Arlando Maurice Prichett, 38, a homeless man, was shot to death near the intersection of 2nd Street Southwest and Cotton Avenue. A cab driver was taken into custody, but has not been charged. (report)
  71. December 9: Ryan Michael Jordan, 19, was shot to death during an attempted robbery at 3305 Avenue H Ensley. The shooter turned himself in to police and was not charged. Jordan's accomplices, Cherrelle Mitchell, Erick Densmore, and Corey Dortch were charged with murder (report)
  72. December 10: Yrral Syevon Torrance, 34, was pulled from the house and shot to death in a driveway on the 5800 block of Ellington Street. No arrest. (report)
  73. December 15: Police shot and killed Jason Letts, 38 at St Vincent's Hospital. Reportedly upset at the care his wife received in the hospital's cardiac unit, Letts brought a gun into the facility. He wounded two staff members and shot a police officer in the leg before he was killed. (report)
  74. December 16: Jamarion Traishawn Swinnie, 4, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital. The Jefferson County Coroner identified the cause of death as homicide. His mother's boyfriend, Robert Lewis Martin, was arrested in April 2013 and charged with capital murder. The mother, Lakita Shameka Swinnie, was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse, but a grand jury upgraded her charge to capital murder as well. Martin, who was ruled ineligible for the death penalty due to an intellectual disability, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced by Judge Laura Petro to 20 years in prison. (report)
  75. December 23: Roderick Eugene Meggison, 65, a resident of the Building Trades Towers at 2021 10th Avenue South died from a gunshot wound after an altercation with another resident, Tyrone Edwards. Edwards was taken into custody at the scene and charged with murder. (report)
  76. December 23: Nathaniel Oakes Jr, 29, was found shot to death in a home at 608 27th Street Southwest. No arrest. (report)
  77. December 23: Skeletal remains of an unidentified male were found in woods on the grounds of the Oxmoor Valley Golf Course. No arrest. (report)

Responses

A march against violence, sponsored by Abyssinia Missionary Baptist Church and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was held on April 10 in Ensley. Two vigils were held in memory of Teddy T, murdered on June 19.

In July the Birmingham Police Department, Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Jefferson County Coordinated Community Response jointly announced initiatives to further analyze fatal incidents of domestic violence. The same month, a "Stop The Violence Funeral Procession" was held on Bessemer Super Highway in the Central Park neighborhood.

The murder of Devondae Jones in September was memorialized with a candlelight vigil at Bush Middle School. Another was held on October 11 to memorialize Starlanda Brown outside his former residence on Center Street.

Interviewed in December, during a late-year spike in homicide cases, police chief A. C. Roper re-emphasized that almost all such cases are the result of people who know each other resorting to violence to settle disputes. Without going into specifics, he characterized some of the motives as "not just senseless, but...actually bizarre." He also encouraged the citizenry to be more involved by reporting suspicious activity, and cooperating with investigators.

A New Year's Eve candlelight vigil to remember victims of homicide was held at Kelly Ingram Park on Monday, December 31. The event was jointly sponsored by the Parents Against Violence Foundation and Alabama Youth Against Violence.

References

  • Ruisi, Anne (April 10, 2012) "March against murder and violence slated Tuesday in Birmingham's Ensley neighborhood." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (July 19, 2012) "Birmingham events -- including mock funeral procession -- target metro crime and violence." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (October 10, 2012) "Family of slain disabled man: "We will not rest until this person is caught and convicted."." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (December 11, 2012) "Birmingham's spike in homicides concerns the city's top cop." The Birmingham News
  • Gray, Jeremy (December 30, 2012) "New Year's Eve candlelight prayer vigil to remember Birmingham homicide victims." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (December 31, 2012) "Birmingham ends 2012 with uptick in homicides." The Birmingham News

External links

See also