List of homicides in 2009

This is a List of homicides in 2009, including homicide cases reported throughout the Birmingham District. A total of 56 homicides have been reported in the area as of May 8, 2009.

Note that a "homicide" refers to the cause of death as determined by a medical examiner, not to the crime of murder as charged by prosecutors and determined by plea or trial.

Chilton County

2. March 23: Donald Kemp, 60, was stabbed to death at his home on Chilton County Road 1051. His caregiver, Kori Lee Scott Norris, with whom he shared a violent history, was arrested and charged. [1]

Cullman County

1. April 4: Sarah Francis Smithson Wren, 63, was shot and killed by neighbor Johnny Ellis Mayo at a trailer park on Megan Lane in Good Hope. Mayo returned to his own home and killed himself soon later. [2]

Etowah County

1. May 5: Nita Michelle Clayborn, 22, was found dead in her car on Whorton Bend Road near Alabama Highway 77. She died of an overdose of alcohol, GHB and Klonopin given to her at a party. Shawne Rust Farrar was arrested and charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. Jeremy Gale Houghtalling was also arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse and hindering prosecution. [3]

Jefferson County

Bessemer

1. January 6: Charles Thompson, 26, found shot to death in a car at the CVS pharmacy at 901 9th Avenue North. He was driven there following a gunfight at the Kate S. Waller Homes. [4]
2. May 1: Andrew Burney, 32, found shot to death following a gunfight on the 500 block of Charleston Drive. The fight apparently spread out into the street in the aftermath of a dispute over a card game in a nearby home. No arrests. [5]
3. May 1: John Onoijuanfo, 31, shot to death in the same gunfight. [6]

Birmingham

• 26 homicides as of May 6 (list)

Center Point

1. April 18: Anthony McGraw, 19, shot on the 500 block of 16th Terrace Northwest after a dispute regarding a burglary in the area. (map). A man at the wheel of a fleeing car was taken into custody for questioning. [7]

Graysville

1. February 16: Richard Melcher, 52, was shot by his brother, Curtis Melcher, who was using a .22 handgun to try to break up a fight between Richard and their father, Pernie Melcher at their home on the 300 block of 15th Avenue Southeast. Curtis was arrested and charged with murder. In 2008 Michael Robinson was run over by Jonathan Melcher, his half-brother, resulting in another homicide at the same address. [8]
2. March 22: Michelle Wallace, 39, was shot by her 16-year-old son, Jamie Lee Wallace as she tried to flee to her parents' home on the 30 block of 3rd Street Northeast. He then fled in a stolen coal truck, but was captured a few blocks away. He has been charged with murder, attempted murder, theft and resisting arrest. He has admitted to killing her and attempting to shoot his grandfather as well. [9]

Hueytown

1. January 24: Ramona Houston, 79, was found shot to death at her home on Daffodil Avenue. Her husband was also found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. [10]
2. February 19: Kimble Parker, 38, and another person were killed when the car they were riding in ran off the road in the 3500 block of 15th Street Road. The driver, Josh Douglas Cofer, had been drinking and was subsequently charged with murder. [11]
3. February 19: Scott Wright, 36, was killed along with Kimble Parker in the same incident.
4. March 7: William Chad Gilbert, 31, found stabbed to death with three others in a house at 225 Woodland Drive. Scott Lamar Abbott has been charged with multiple counts of capital murder. [12]
5. March 7: Jeri Lynn Cole, 27, found stabbed to death at the same house.
6. March 7: Nika Sandlin, 24, found stabbed to death at the same house.
7. March 7: Joshua Gilleo, 26, found stabbed to death at the same house.

Midfield

1. March 4: Willie Williams, 86, was killed when her pick-up truck was hit by a car being driven by Marvin Leonard Brown, who was fleeing from Midfield Police. Although the officer had ended pursuit several seconds earlier, Brown ran a stop sign and caused the fatal collision. He was charged with murder and several other offenses soon later. [13]

Unincorporated Jefferson County

1. January 16: Tonya Bernicia Murray, 38, was found dead from trauma to the head and stripped of clothing in a wooded area off Rocky Ridge Lane near International Park and I-459. [14]
2. May 8: Unnamed young male found dead from a gunshot wound in a driveway on the 2500 block of 2nd Way Northwest near Center Point. No arrest. [15]

Shelby County

1. March 11: Wendy Louise Starnes, 33, was found dead outside a mobile home at 126A Oliver Street, off Pelham Parkway. Juan Rodriguez, 34, was injured at the scene and charged later after receiving treatment. [16]

St Clair County

1. February 2: Michael Clapper, 48, was found bludgeoned to death in a storage unit at Highway 174 Mini Storage on Alabama Highway 174 in Odenville. Billy Lee Spence, Jr was arrested and charged after investigators determined that he was involved during an interview. The death is believed to have resulted from a prior argument. [17]
2. February 28: Stoney Lee McDuffie, 42, was found beaten to death in a mobile home on the 200 block of Trails End Lane in Moody. No arrest. [18]
3. March 23: Bill Carleton, 67, was killed by a rifle shot near his home on Wolf Creek Road South in Pell City. The victim's son, Robert Allen Carleton, was arrested and charged with murder. The two had an ongoing dispute. [19]
4. April 7: Diana Danahoo Rice, 62, was found strangled to death in a wooded area off Camp Winnataska Road. She had last been seen at her home on the 16000 block of Shelby County Highway 55 in Shelby County. Randy O'Neal Davidson, a suspect apprehended for another home invasion in Jefferson County was charged with capital murder. [20]

Tuscaloosa County

1. March 29: Vincent Edward Hunter, 35, was found beaten to death in an SUV parked at a McDonald's restaurant on Alabama Highway 69 in Taylorville. Tamarcus Kendrell Thomas and Tavares Antwon Horton have been arrested and charged with capital murder. [21]
2. May 1: Delvarious Yarnell Johnson, 20, was shot in his car following a dispute over a game of dice in Holt. Jonathan David Polk has been arrested and charged with capital murder. [22]

Walker County

1. February 2: Frank Creel, 51, was killed in a shootout with Michael Norris at Norris' home on the 7000 block of Carbon Hill- Nauvoo Road in Nauvoo. Norris was injured in the gunfight. No charges have yet been filed. [23]
2. March 19: Luis Alberto Montano, 28, was shot do death on Hull Road in Empire. No arrest. [24]
3. March 28: Stephanie Frederick Allred, 38, was found shot at her home on the premises of a boat dealership she operated on U. S. Highway 78 just outside Jasper. No arrest. [25]

External links

• Birmingham News map of area homicides in 2009