From Tribune staff reports
BIRMINGHAM — Just hours after answering the call for a triple homicide on Friday afternoon, Birmingham police said they were on the scene of a double homicide. Then came news that the triple homicide was now a quadruple homicide after the fourth victim died at UAB Hospital.
At the end of the grueling day that saw the city’s 2024 homicide count jump from eight to 14, Birmingham’s police chief said the city “has been rocked to it’s core.”
The double homicide scene is in the 4100 block of 10th Avenue. The victims are a couple missing since Valentine’s day.
Police said Christian Norris, 20, and Angeliyah Webster, 20, both from Birmingham, disappeared while going to an unknown theater. The vehicle that the victims were found in, a white Ford Tarus, matched the vehicle of the missing couple.
“On Thursday, February 15, 2024, West Precinct officers and BPD’s Special Victim’s Unit detectives began investigating the disappearance of Angeliyah Webster and Christian Norris,” BPD Officer Truman Fitzgerald, “The couple was last seen on Valentine’s Day 2024 after leaving a residence in a White Ford Tauras to go out on a movie date.”
On Friday, the investigation led detectives and officers to the 4100 block of 10th Avenue Wylam where officers located the couple’s White Ford Tauras. Upon further investigation, officers observed the victims inside the vehicle suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The earlier shooting occurred in the 900 block of Center Street, the call to 911 came in at about 2:45 p.m. from Shot Spotter alert officers to several rounds of gunfire, according Fitzgerald. Officers arrived to find four adult male gunshot victims in an open area.
Three were pronounced dead at the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel. Those victims were identified as Cortez Ray, 32; Talton Tate, 36; Terrell Edwards, 38, all of Birmingham, Alabama.
A fourth person,Kevin McGhee, 38, of Birmingham, was wounded and transported to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries. McGhee was taken to surgery, but did not survive.
“We believe the victims were at a neighborhood carwash when an unknown suspect or suspects opened fire on them,” Fitzgerald said. “We believe one or more of the victims were targeted in the shooting.”
“Today, the City of Birmingham experienced an unfathomable amount of senseless violence. As a result, five men and one woman lost their lives,” BPD Chief Scott Thurman said. “One of those males was a City of Birmingham employee who just completed his shift for the day. All lost their lives because of gun violence.”
Thurman said the city had been rocked to its core by Friday’s events.
“Our city and communities are hurting beyond belief. Our citizens and the City of Birmingham deserve better,” Thurman said. “The Birmingham Police Department will work tirelessly to solve these murders as well as many others that remain unsolved.”
Earlier Friday, Thurman said all three victims in the triple homicide were Black males. A fourth person was wounded and transported to UAB Hospital. The victim was in surgery.
Thurman said he did not have names or ages of the victims.
Thurman said police could use any assistance the public can provide. He said this is not a random act, but police don’t have a suspect.