2007 Birmingham homicides

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2007. It includes homicide cases occuring 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.

With 48 homicides up to July 26, the city is on pace for 85 in 2007. If that trend were to hold true, the homicide rate for the city of Birmingham, based on the 2006 census estimate of 229,424 population, would be 37.0 homicides per 100,000 population for the year. Birmingham had 109 homicides in 2006, 105 in 2005, and a record of 135 in 1994.

Birmingham is averaging 7.0 homicides per month, or one every 4.3 days. There were 8 homicides in January and June, 6 in May, and 4 each in February, March, and April. The longest stretch without a homicide was between February 26 and March 22. The 16 slayings in the first quarter of 2007 represented a 36% reduction from the 1st quarter of 2006. Incidents of aggravated assault and burglary also declined from the same period last year. Vehicle thefts rose 19%, while reported rapes, property thefts and robberies rose slightly. (Robinson - May 1)

Of the 48 recorded homicides, suspects have been reported identified in at least 20 cases, apprehended in 18, and charged in 15. Two incidents were police shootings, both of which remain under investigation.

Listing by date

1. January 1: Wyteria Rogers, 20, found shot in car on 200 block of 93rd Street North (map). Gregory Johnson, 20, charged with murder. [1]
2. January 1: Lavaughn Fortune, 34, victim of drive-by shooting at King City Food Mart at Warrior Road and Avenue P in Ensley (map). No arrest. [2]
3. January 11: Michael Elmore, 33, stabbed at his apartment at 2341 8th Street Northwest ( Sun Valley Apartments) (map) after an altercation. Neighbor Nathaniel Gordon, 44, was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with murder. [3]
4. January 19: Alberto Jackson, 39, shot by police during a confrontation on the 4100 block of 5th Court North in the Tom Brown Housing Community (map). He was taken to UAB Hospital and pronounced dead on the operating table. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the incident and the officer involved was placed on administrative leave. [4]
5. January 20: Unidentified shooting victim found in burning car at Appalachee Street and 11th Avenue North (map). Artago Wilson, 26, of Ensley has been arrested and charged with murder. [5]
6. January 24: Deston Lyons, 24, found in back yard of apartment building at 609 8th Street West (map). No arrest. [6]
7. January 26: Aubrey Graham, 42, shot on 4600 block of Carver Avenue in Hillman Park (map). Suspect arrested, but not yet charged. [7]
8. January 31: Patrick Grayson, 37, found shot on 2900 block of S. J. Bennett Drive in Wenonah (map). No arrest. [8]
9. February 6: Wendell Ray Austin, 44, found in back yard on 2700 block of 29th Place Ensley in the Fairview neighborhood (map). Travis Griffin, 18, was arrested and charged with murder. [9]
10. February 8: Donald Brookins, 25, shot in a mid-day gunfight at 2218 Avenue I Ensley. (map). Morris Thomas, 21, has been charged with murder and remains at large. [10]
11. February 9: Ronald Smith, Jr, 19, shot at 2948 Gallant Drive in Apple Valley (map) . Kevin DeWayne Lane was taken into custody and charged with capital murder. [11]
12. February 26: Joseph Van McGhee, 26, confined to a wheelchair after a previous gunshot wound, was hit by a shot intended for his cousin while visiting his cousin's home on the 400 block of Princeton Avenue (map). McGhee was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital. [12]
13. March 22: Bryant Mason, 19, shot on the front porch of 7418 1st Avenue South in Eastlake (map). Mason later died at UAB Hospital. No arrest. [13]
14. March 27: Martin Speights, 46, shot in car, found after crashing into utility pole at a parking lot on the 1200 block of Bankhead Highway in Thomas. (map). [14]
15. March 27: Canoard Norris, 21, shot in car in parking lot of Triple T's Food Store at 2517 Bush Boulevard in Ensley (map). No arrest. [15]
16. March 30: Darryontae Plummer, 22, shot at 86th Place North and 86th Way in Zion City (map). Another man was injured in the same shooting. Brandon Varner, 21 and Roy Seals, 20, have been arrested in connection with the incident. [16]
17. April 7: Brandon Reid, 18, shot on 800 block of Graymont Avenue (map). He was taken to UAB Hospital where he later died. [17]
18. April 6: William G. Bishop, 56, died from blunt force trauma after fighting with William James Johnson, 59 in a wooded area at 8th Avenue North and Carraway Boulevard (map). Both men were homeless. Johnson has been arrested and charged with murder. [18]
19. April 12: Thomas Jesse Smith, 51, shot in his car at 21st Street North and 31st Avenue North, then crashed at 31st and 20th Street North (map). He was pronounced dead at Physicians Medical Center Carraway. [19]
20. April 25: Calvin Square, 32, shot in chest after an altercation with another male in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 2000 block of Avenue J in the Tuxedo community of Ensley (map). The victim was transported to UAB Hospital where he died. The suspect surrendered to police at the scene. [20]
21. May 9: Annie Ruth Gullion Lewis, 52, found in badly decomposed state alongside railroad track in a wooded area near the 3200 block of 2nd Avenue North (map). Though the cause has not yet been determined, her death is being investigated as a homicide. [21]
22. May 20: John Langer Malone, 25, found dead on the porch of a home at 1869 St Charles Court in west Birmingham (map). [22]
23. May 25: Amanda Bryant, a 21-year-old transient, pronounced dead at the scene on a street in north Birmingham from a gunshot to the upper body. No arrests have been made. [23]
24. May 26: Mikylah Mays, 3 months old, found unresponsive at home at 6725 1st Avenue South and later pronounced dead at Children's Hospital (map). The infant's parents, Michael Mays, 23, and Joycelyn Smitherman, 22, were arrested on suspicion of murder, but later released when the District Attorney declined to charge them for lack of evidence. [24]
25. May 30: William DeAngelo Perry, 20, found shot on steps in front of his apartment building at 8009 1st Avenue South (map). Cortney Chancellor, 21, was arrested and charged with murder on June 5. [25]
26. May 31: Keith Brown, 38, found shot on the 200 block of Oporto-Madrid Boulevard (map). He died on June 1 at UAB Hospital. [26]
27. June 2: Mark Andrew, 38, stabbed outside The Station, 2025 Morris Avenue (map). Another man was wounded in the altercation. [27]
28. June 4: Sanchez Quiroz Barbarino, 29, of Arizona was found dead in the back seat of a 2000 Nissan Maxima on the 100 block of Lexington Street in Wylam (map). [28]
29. June 5: Alfonzo Turner, 21, shot during a struggle with a Birmingham City Schools security officer at Hayes High School, 505 43rd Street North (map) [29]
30. June 6: David Burrell, 19, found shot to death at 4819 Court V in Ensley (map). Ronley Ashley, Jr, has been charged with capital murder. [30]
31. June 12: Nelson Rice, 27, shot in the parking lot of the Uptown Apartments on the 1500 block of 19th Street North (Druid Hills) after an argument inside one of the units. (map). Luran Harrell was charged and arrested on a bus in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. [31]
32. June 12: Corey K. Smith, 21, was shot just east of Village Creek near the intersection of 23rd Street Southwest and Fulton Avenue Southwest (map). The shooting followed an altercation with another man. [32]
33. June 17: Steven Smith, 45, was shot at 4233 3rd Avenue South in Avondale (map). Leonard Dinson, 54, was arrested at the scene and charged with murder. [33]
34. June 29: Raymond May, 47, shot on the 200 block of Bolin Street in South Titusville near Elmwood Cemetery (map). [34]
35. July 1: Lucille Marie "Greta" Carter, 44, a prostitute, was found shot and dumped on the 100 block of Finley Avenue with a bag over her head (map). Bruce D. Mendenhall of Albion, Illinois, a trucker and suspected serial killer was arrested on July 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. His statement implicated him in at least six murders and he has been charged in Carter's death based on witness descriptions of his truck. [35]
36. July 4: Renard Davidson, 19, found shot inside 553 41st Place North in North Avondale (map). No arrest. [36]
37. July 4: Cornelius Hudson, 21, shot on the 8600 block of 2nd Avenue North (map). Patrick Scott Higgins, 24, has been charged with capital murder. [37]
38. July 7: Latorya Johnson, 23 and pregnant, was shot inside her apartment at 1785 Pearson Avenue Southwest. Her boyfriend, David Lockett has been charged with capital murder. [38]
39. July 15: Eddie Lee Jackson, 42, found dead in a pick-up truck that crashed into a house at 912 3rd Street Pratt in Pratt City immediately after gunshots were heard in the vicinity (map). No arrest. [39]
40. July 15: Janet Frame, 37, found dead in a pick-up truck that crashed into a house at 912 3rd Street Pratt in Pratt City immediately after gunshots were heard in the vicinity (map). No arrest. [40]
41. July 16: Abdo Kasim Musa, 28, a clerk at Matt's Market at 3220 17th Avenue North (map), was shot to death as he closed the store around 11:00 PM. No arrest. [41]
42. July 17: Skeletal remains found in a shallow grave off 27th Avenue North near the CSX Railroad tracks. Patsy Young, a homeless woman, was arrested for hindering prosecution in connection with the case, which has been ruled a homicide based on autopsy results. [42]
43. July 18: Sylvester Cobb, 31, shot in front of his home on the 1400 block of Eufaula Avenue in Bush Hills (map). No arrest. [43]
44. July 20: Eulin Matthews, 19, shot near the intersection of 6th Avenue North and 16th Street North downtown (map). No arrest. [44]
45. July 20: William Robert Ross, 42, found at 3601 36th Avenue North (map). He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead. [45]
46. July 21: Martaveous Wilson, 24, shot inside house at 845 42nd Place North (map). Charles Knight, 31, is charged with capital murder. He is being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail. [46]
47. July 22: Larry Whitson, 50, found dead in his apartment on Tuscaloosa Avenue (map). [47]
48. July 25: Derrick Williams, 29, found shot to death inside his burning house at 225 Newark Circle (map). No arrest. [48]

Responses

Carole Smitherman, President of the Birmingham City Council proposed increasing staffing for the Narcotics and Vice Units of the Birmingham Police Department as an effort to reduce drug activity, which is thought to be a primary factor in the homicide rate. Mayor Bernard Kincaid replied that the size of those departments is already ideal, and was praised in a recent accreditation review. (Bryant - Jan 12, 2007)

The Council's Public Safety Committee met with John Sloan, Chair of the UAB Department of Justice Sciences, to discuss remedies for the city's crime rate which could be recommended to the Mayor and Police Chief Annetta Nunn. Sloan discussed steps the city of Boston took in the early 1990s to reduce homicide, which started with a detailed analysis of case data. Also at the meeting were Jefferson County Medical Examiner Robert Brissie, who reported that 41% of victims had drugs in their system and called the "drug mess" a "serious, serious problem." Nunn, also in attendence, brought the Council's attention to a 1997 crime reduction plan which has never been fully implemented. (Bryant - Jan 18)

On January 23, the mayor and council endorsed Sloan's study and approved spending as much as $150,000 to have Sloan's department study police records and re-interview suspects, witnesses and family members. Councilor Joel Montgomery expressed the council's decision that the 1997 crime plan was "absolutely irrelevant to what's going on now." (Bryant - Jan 24)

On April 19 the Birmingham Association of Black Journalists held a "Town Hall Meeting on Violence" at 16th Street Baptist Church. Guests included Mayor Bernard Kincaid, Birmingham City Council president Carole Smitherman, Police Chief Annetta Nunn, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale, District Court Judge Eric Fancher, Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber, Alabama Sentencing Commission member Rosa Davis, Birmingham Division of Youth Services director Cedric Sparks, UAB criminologist John Sloan, Reverend Steve Green of More Than Conquerors Faith Church, Carolyn Johnson of Parents Against Violence and Foster Cook of Treatment Alternatives to Street Crimes. The event was televised on Fox 6, ABC 33/40, and CBS 42, and aired live on WAGG AM 610. (Norris - Apr 18)

By June 8, with only 30 homicides compared to 42 at the same point in 2006, the Council acknowledged the police department's apparent successes and decided not to proceed with the proposed study. (Bryant - June 10)

References

• 2007 Press Releases from Birmingham Police Department
• Bryant, Joseph D. (January 12, 2007) "Smitherman says homicides linked to drugs." Birmingham News.
• Bryant, Joseph D. (January 18, 2007) "Council wants data on city's homicides." Birmingham News.
• Bryant, Joseph D. (January 24, 2007) "Homicides focus of $150,000 plan." Birmingham News.
• Norris, Toraine (April 18, 2007) "Black Birmingham journalists to host town hall meeting on violence." Birmingham News.
• Robinson, Carol (May 1, 2007) "Homicides decline in first three months." Birmingham News.
• Bryant, Joseph D. (June 10, 2007) "With slayings down, crime study shelved." Birmingham News.