2019 Birmingham homicides

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2019. 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.

13 homicides have been reported in the city as of February 15, putting the city on pace for 103 for the year. Based on the 2017 census estimate of 210,710 population, that represents a homicide rate of 48.9 homicides per 100,000 residents. Birmingham had 109 homicides in 2018. The recent record low of 62 homicides was set in 2014, and the recent record high was 141 in 1992. At this point last year, 15 homicides had been reported.

The city has averaged 8.5 homicides per month, or one every 3.5 days. There were 9 incidents in January and 4 so far in February. The longest stretch without a homicide was the 8-day span between February 5 and 13. One death was reported on a Sunday, 1 on a Monday, 2 on Tuesdays, 2 on Wednesdays, 1 on a Thursday, 4 on Fridays, and 2 on Saturdays.

One of the reported homicides has been ruled justifiable as self-defense by investigators or prosecutors. The police department therefore acknowledges 12 chargeable homicides. Suspects have been identified in 5 of those cases, arrested in 5 and charged in 5.

At least 11 deaths resulted from shootings, and one from an automobile collision while fleeing a shooting. The cause of one other was not publicized. Seven incidents occurred on the streets, one at an apartment complex, two at a nightclub, one at a home, and two in yards or driveways. Four were reported in the West Precinct, six in the East Precinct, none in the South Precinct and 3 in the North Precinct. One shooting occurred during an attempted police pat-down, one during an attempted break-in, two during a sudden dispute, and one is believed to have been the result of random violence. The motive is unknown in the other 8 deaths.

13 victims were male and none were female.

Listing by date

1. January 1: Earl Lee Evans Jr, 57, was found shot to death in the yard of a vacant house at 2721 Avenue C in Ensley. He lived next door with his mother. No arrest. (report)
2. January 3: Carltez Clark, 28, was driven to the Birmingham Police Department East Precinct in Roebuck where he was pronounced dead after being shot while riding with his girlfriend on Parkway East. The shooting is believed to have been random, matching another car-to-car shooting which took place 10 minutes earlier on Old Springville Road. No arrest. (report)
3. January 5: Charles Reese, 46, died at UAB Hospital from gunshot wounds suffered on the 2500 block of 16th Street in Ensley. Roderick King was arrested two weeks later and charged with murder. (report)
4. January 13: WyTasha Carter, 44, a Birmingham Police Sergeant, was shot to death while attempting to pat down a suspect in a rash of car burglaries. He and another officer, Lucas Allums, confronted two suspects outside the 4 Seasons Bar & Grill on the 900 block of 5th Avenue North. Allums was critically injured by gunshot. One suspect, Jeremy Elwin Owens, was hit by return fire and another was taken into custody, but later released without charges. Owens was charged with murder on January 25. (report)
5. January 18: Brandon Joel Franklin, 44, was found dead behind a home at 7327 2nd Avenue South in East Lake. No arrest. (report)
6. January 23: Sebastian Earl Clark, 57, was found shot to death on the 100 block of Thomas Circle in Thomas. Investigators determined that he had been breaking into the house when he was shot by the owner. No charges were filed. (report)
7. January 25: LaQuintin Deon "LL Deon" Wright, 29, was one of two men killed in a shootout at the G M Lounge at 3813 Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard North in East Birmingham. No arrest. (report)
8. January 25: JaGorren Jimmie Kelly, 33, was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital from wounds suffered in the same incident.
9. January 28: Jeremy Lavender, 24, died from injuries suffered when his car struck a support for the I-59 overpass at Oporto-Madrid Boulevard North. His car had been hit by a gunshot and he apparently lost control while fleeing the scene of a shooting. A number of shell casings were recovered from the vicinity of Oporto-Madrid and 4th Avenue South. His death was investigated as a homicide. (report)
10. February 2: Christopher Lawson, 36, was shot to death after a party on the 6100 block of Grove Avenue in Roosevelt. Anthony Marcell Mosley was arrested 10 days later and charged with murder. (report)
11. February 5: Ricardo Phillip Watkins, 21, was found shot to death on the 1600 block of 1st Avenue South, adjacent to Railroad Park. No arrest. (report)
12. February 13: Princeton Jamarco Swain, 28, was found shot to death on the 1100 block of 14th Street North in Fountain Heights. Another person was injured by gunshot and taken to UAB Hospital. J. C. Hrabowski was arrested and charged with capital murder and attempted murder. (report)
13. February 14: Napolean January, 32, died at UAB Hospital from injuries he suffered in a November 9, 2018 shooting on the 7500 block of 67th Courtway South in Gate City's Marks Village housing project. Melvin Akeem Taylor had been charged with attempted murder, which was later upgraded to a murder charge. (report)

Responses

A vigil for LL Deon Wright, one of the victims of the shootout at the G M Lounge, was held at Hughes' Black Diamond just up the street on February 1.

See also

• List of homicides in 2019
• Birmingham homicides by year
• Crime in Birmingham

References

• Beahm, Anna (February 1, 2019) "Vigil held for man shot dead at GM Lounge in Birmingham." The Birmingham News