2023 Birmingham homicides

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2023. 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.

36 homicides have been reported in the city as of April 10, putting the city on pace for 131 for the year. Based on the 2021 census estimate of 197,575 population, that represents a homicide rate of 66.3 homicides per 100,000 residents. Birmingham had 152 homicides in 2022, a record high. The recent record low of 62 homicides was set in 2014. At this point in 2022, 39 homicides had been reported.

The city has averaged 10.8 homicides per month, or one every 2.8 days. There were 12 incidents in January, 3 in February, 16 in March, and 5 so far in April. The longest stretch without a homicide was the 13-day span between February 22 and March 7. 7 deaths were reported on Sundays, 4 on Mondays, 9 on Tuesdays, 7 on Wednesdays, 1 on a Thursday, 2 on Fridays, and 6 on Saturdays.

2 of the reported homicides has been ruled justifiable as self-defense by investigators or prosecutors, and 1 more was a police shooting presumed to have been justified. With the exception of those cases, the department acknowledges 33 chargeable homicides, 1 of which was charged as manslaughter. Suspects have been identified in 16 cases, arrested in 15 and charged in 12. A suspect charged in one death later died by suicide.

At least 29 deaths so far have resulted from shootings, 5 from reckless driving, 1 from child abuse, and 1 from unannounced causes. 4 incidents occurred outside at apartment complexes, 11 in private homes, 4 at businesses, and 17 on the streets. 18 deaths were reported in the West Precinct, 11 in the East Precinct, 1 in the South Precinct and 5 in the North Precinct.

2 killings arose from work-related disputes, 1 came during a robbery, 6 were domestic-related disputes, 12 appeared to have resulted from targeted assaults, 1 resulted from child abuse, 1 victim was struck by return fire during an assault, 5 were caused by reckless driving, 1 resulted from a police shooting, and the motives for 7 other deaths have not been made public.

30 victims were males and 6 were females.

Listing by date

1. January 2: Jamarquis Darionte Weaver, 27, was found shot to death in a vehicle in the parking lot of the East Plaza Apartments at 113 59th Street North in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Another male with him in the vehicle was wounded. No arrest. (report)
2. January 4: Cortez Dekelvin Ware, 37, was shot to death following a work-related argument at the Elyton Meat Market at 301 Center Street North in Smithfield. Christopher Tyrell Kendricks was identified by witnesses and arrested the same day at Elyton Village. He was charged with murder the next day. (report)
3. January 8: Porcha Patrice Williams, 34, was struck and killed as she exited her disabled vehicle on the northbound lanes of Elton B. Stephens Expressway near the Carraway Boulevard exit ramp. The driver who struck her, Jairo Noe Antonio Hernandez, was determined to have been under the influence of alcohol. He was charged with manslaughter and held without bond. If released he is subject to deportation to Mexico. (report)
4. January 11: Jayvonne David Banks, 23, was found shot to death outside a unit at the Adona Apartments on Aspen Run in Glen Iris. The suspected shooter, the brother of a woman who lives at the complex, was taken into custody at the scene. Investigators and prosecutors determined that the shooting was justified, and no criminal charges were filed. (report)
5. January 13: Jasmine Clevette "Jazzy" Price, 33, was found shot to death in an SUV that crashed into a building at The Oaks Apartments on the 800 block of 1st Street West in Smithfield. It is believed she was struck by return fire during a separate assault and exchange. The assailant that is believed to have precipitated the shooting, Raquan Wilson, was charged with murder. He surrendered to police on February 6. (report)
6. January 14: Ryan Donell Marable, 17, was found shot to death in the back yard of a residence on the 5000 block of 43rd Street North in Inglenook. No arrest. (report)
7. January 15: Thomas Lee Bailey, 31, was found shot to death in a vehicle near the 100 block of 4th Avenue North in Smithfield. Another female was injured. (report)
8. January 25: Roman Gonzalez, 48, was shot to death during a robbery at a home undergoing renovations on the 1400 block of 27th Street Ensley in Ensley Highlands. No arrest. (report)
9. January 28: Robert Dewayne White, 43, was killed in an assault while talking with friends on the 3400 block of 31st Avenue North in Collegeville. No arrest. (report)
10. January 29: Jaylen Andarrius Clark, 17, died at UAB Hospital from gunshot wounds received on the 1600 block of Lake Drive Northeast in Spring Lake. Another male was wounded in the shooting, which is believed to have been related to an earlier altercation on the 100 block of Nekoma Drive in Killough Springs which left another man wounded. Andre Carr Jr, who was with Clark, was charged with murder and attempted murder. (report)
11. January 31: Robert Chandler, 57, was found dead from apparent homicide in a home on 4200 block of Fairmont Way in Fairmont. Chandler's cousin, Billy Morris, was killed by a drive-by shooter in the same house in April 2019. Tanarence Murphy and Aaron Elijah Bearden were arrested and charged with capital murder. (report)
12. January 31: Corieonna Shantrice Hines, 24, was shot to death, and two young girls injured by gunfire in an apparent domestic assault at an apartment on the 100 block of 9th Avenue West in Smithfield. Hines was pregnant with a third child at the time of her death. Andrew Haweis Goldsmith IV was identified by Hines as the shooter before she died. He was charged with capital murder and attempted murder. He shot himself in the head following a police chase on February 7 and died two days later at UAB Hospital. (report)
13. February 11: Darnell Michael Puidokas, 36, was shot to death at the Chevron gas station at 2161 Bessemer Road in Central Park. The shooting resulted from a dispute over payment for unlocking a vehicle at a different location. Michael Kermit Murray was arrested at the scene and charged with murder. (report)
14. February 14: Reginald Andre Moore, 55, was found shot to death in a yard on the 900 block of 4th Court West in Bush Hills. No arrest. (report)
15. February 22: Marquis Kantrell Drakes Jr, 24, was shot to death in a home on the 1400 block of 29th Street Ensley. A woman on the scene was taken into custody, but no charges have been announced. (report)
16. March 7: Autumn Duskin, 4 months old, was pronounced dead at Children's of Alabama from trauma suffered at her home. Her death was ruled a homicide. No charges have been announced. (report)
17. March 10: Bryan Gary Wood, 41, was found dead in a grassy area between 1st Avenue North and 1st Court North in North East Lake, after being struck by a vehicle near the intersection of 87th Street North and West Boulevard, just outside Roebuck-Hawkins Park. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene. No arrest. (report)
18. March 11: James Lee Brown Jr, 53, was struck by a car while waiting near his disabled vehicle on the 100 block of Roebuck Drive in Roebuck. The driver fled the scene. No arrest. (report)
19. March 12: Damion Jermaine Gardner, 43, was struck by a vehicle while standing on the grassy shoulder on the 800 block of Arkadelphia Road near Birmingham-Southern College in Bush Hills. The driver left the scene and has not been identified. (report)
20. March 14: Tiffany Michele Hernandez, 40, was one of two people found shot to death in a home on the 8400 block of 8th Avenue South in South East Lake. Daniel P. Watson surrendered himself to police in Leeds the next morning and admitted to killing two people there and two others in Ragland. He was charged with capital murder. (report)
21. March 14: Jason Joseph Brown, 40, was killed in the same incident.
22. March 15: Johnathan Christian Hamff, 45, was struck by a vehicle and killed while he was walking on the shoulder of I-59 southbound near the Roebuck Parkway exit in South Roebuck. The driver of the vehicle left the scene. (report)
23. March 20: Devarta Dedre Thomas, 30, was shot to death on the 300 block of 74th Street North in Wahouma. Thomas had been convicted of murdering his mother in 2016. Jamarian Carpenter was arrested a week later and charged with capital murder. (report)
24. March 30: James Lee Washington, 29, was shot to death in an apparent domestic dispute in his apartment at 312 1st Avenue North in Smithfield. His sister's boyfriend, Claude Lafayette Hardy Jr, was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
25. March 21: Kenneth Earl Harris Jr, 42, died at UAB Hospital from gunshot wounds suffered the previous day when unknown assailants fired into his house on the 500 block of Buffalo Street in Wylam. The suspects are believed to have left the scene in a white, four-door sedan. No arrest. (report)
26. March 21: Michael Kimbrough, 48, was found dead on the 5900 block of Jesse Owens Avenue in Roosevelt. No arrest. (report)
27. March 22: Fredrick Carnell Sykes, 44, was found shot to death in a home on the 3600 block of Hemlock Avenue Southwest in Riley-Travellick. He was apparently killed after a forced entry. No arrest. (report)
28. March 26: Caleb Cornandus Whitt, 17, was found dead on the 200 block of 3rd Avenue Southwest in North Titusville following a large-scale shooting at the University Crossings apartments a half mile away. Police believe he was killed in that shooting and possibly dumped there. A suspect has been detained for questioning, but has not been charged. (report)
29. March 26: Demetrius Antwan Davis Jr, 25, was ambushed and shot to death while pumping gasoline at the Circle K at 1700 Tallapoosa Street in East Birmingham. Byron Dedric Steel was arrested and charged with capital murder in what is believed to have been an act of retaliation for a previous shooting. Davis' father had been shot to death, also at a gas station, in October 2018. (report)
30. March 28: An unnamed male was shot to death in a shootout on the 500 block of 12th Street Southwest near Fulton Avenue in Arlington-West End. A male seen fleeing the area was detained for questioning. (report)
31. March 29: Jada White, 16, was found shot to death on the 3000 block of Avemue F in Ensley. Another female was injured in what apparently began as a confrontation over vandalism to an automobile. No arrest. (report)
32. April 1: Kamaree Shondale Phillips, 17, was fatally assaulted by gunfire while sitting in a car on Westchaster Court at the Magnolia Court apartments in Apple Valley. No arrest. (report)
33. April 3: Tedarrius Quentez Smith, 28, was shot to death by a Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy on the 3000 block of 30th Court North in Collegeville. The deputy had initiated a traffic stop of a black Infiniti in Fairfield, and learned that the driver, Smith, was wanted on an outstanding warrant for kidnapping. Smith fled with the deputy in pursuit, and crashed into a chain-link fence near the Maxine Herring Parker Bridge at F. L. Shuttlesworth Drive, and the Collegeville Homes public housing project. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the officer-involved shooting. An unnamed ALEA official stated that Smith drew a gun as he fled the crashed car on foot, which prompted the deputy to shoot him. Family members at the scene claimed he did not have a gun and that he had been falsely accused of kidnapping by his wife. (report)
34. April 6: Anthony Darniel Knight, 47, was shot to death on the 1400 block of Brighton Road in Green Acres. He was behind the wheel of a car that investigators believe had been pursued for some distance before he pulled over and was gunned down from another vehicle. No arrest. (report)
35. April 8: Jeffrey Derrick Pleasant, 40, was found shot to death in a home on the 600 block of Carline Avenue in Central Pratt after a dispute that broke out during a party. Investigators determined that the shooting was justified and no criminal charges were filed. (report)
36. April 9: Martinez Laudell Smith, 21, died at Princeton Baptist Medical Center from injuries suffered in a shooting that occurred when an argument broke out during a party at the Peyton Place event center 234 8th Avenue West near Legion Field in Graymont. Two others were injured. No arrests. (report)

See also

• List of homicides in 2023
• Birmingham homicides by year
• Crime in Birmingham

References

• Robinson, Carol (March 21, 2023) "‘This is unacceptable, Birmingham deserves better,’ chief says after 4 killed in 36 hours." AL.com
• Robinson, Carol (April 6, 2023) "Birmingham homicides drop in first quarter of 2023 after record-setting year for murder." AL.com

External links

• Fatal Shootings in Birmingham, Alabama at the National Gun Violence Memorial