From Staff Reports
BIRMINGHAM – A Bessemer man has been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder for his role in a Feb. 20 shooting near Bessemer.
Just before 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 20, Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a shooting in the 200 block of Elm Street SW near Bessemer. Information on the scene was that several men were sitting outside in a vacant lot drinking when an argument erupted. Two men pulled guns and began shooting.
Four adult males ages 28, 37, 37 and 45 were struck. Detectives learned that the men were drinking and smoking marijuana. The argument began when one of the men would not return the marijuana to the owner.
Mario Desmond, 28, pulled a gun on 37-year-old William Lewis. Lewis then pulled his own gun and the two began shooting at each other. The other two men were bystanders. Lewis was struck and later died at an area hospital. Desmond was struck, but only sustained a minor injury. He was driven to a hospital in a private car where he was treated and released. On Feb. 23, detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Mario Desmond with the murder of William Lewis. He is also charged with the attempted murder of one of the other shooting victims.
Desmond was arrested yesterday and remains in the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $135,000.