List of homicides in 2011

This is a List of homicides in 2011, including homicide cases reported throughout the Birmingham District. At least 20 homicides have been reported in the area for the year, as of March 11. 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.

Calhoun County

1. February 9: John A. Payne was found dead during a standoff between his nephew, Jonathan Singleton, and U. S. Marshals at a house on Gate 5 Road, about a mile off U.S. Highway 431 in Alexandria. The Marshals were attempting to serve a warrant for child abuse, burglary, theft by deception, and possession of a forged instrument. During the four-hour standoff, they were joined by a SWAT team from the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department and an Etowah County Joint Special Operations Group including Gadsden Police officers. Payne's body was found in a mobile home near the house. The trailer had been rigged with booby-traps and incendiary devices rigged to motion sensors. Singleton shot and killed himself and set off another firebomb in the home after officers launched tear gas grenades inside. (report)

Jefferson County

18 as of March 11

Adamsville

1. March 1: Shellane Green, 44, was found dead inside her home on Sunset Boulevard. Her death is being investigated as a homicide. Her ex-husband, Willie H. Forrest Jr, was arrested and charged with capital murder. (report)

Bessemer

1. March 3: Luman Jones, 18, was found shot to death on the 2500 block of Carolina Terrace near his home. Ronnie Black and Michael Black have been charged, but remain at large. (report)
2. March 9: David M. Cupps, 53, was found dead outside the Comfort Inn at 5051 Academy Lane in Bessemer. Cupps, of Sunbury, Ohio, was visiting Vicksburg, Mississippi on business when he was apparently abducted and killed. His disappearance was reported on March 8 when he missed his flight home. Two Louisiana prison escapees, Ricky Wedgeworth, 36, and Darian "Drake" Pierce, 33, were found driving his rented Buick Enclave on I-40 in Jackson, Tennessee that night, but they escaped on foot. (report)

Birmingham

9 as of March 11: See List of Birmingham homicides in 2011 for details.

Center Point

1. January 20: Monzerrat Perez, 6 months, died at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. She was delivered by emergency caesarean on July 25, 2010, the day after her family was rear-ended by a speeding vehicle on Center Point Parkway. Her father died instantly and her mother died the next day following surgery. Joseph Alexander Goolsby, the driver of the speeding car, had been drinking. He was arrested and charged with two counts of murder caused by operating a vehicle with extreme indifference to human life. Monzerrat survived, but has had medical complications since birth. A third murder count is expected to be filed following her death. (report)

Hueytown

1. January 9: Andrea D. Tucker, 43 was shot to death at her home at 410 Clio Street. Her fiance, James Williams III, was arrested and charged with murder. (report)

Mulga

1. March 5: Jerry Crawford, 58, was one of two men found shot to death on the 300 block of 1st Avenue. Lajonas Deshane Powell and Harold Brownlee Jr are alleged to have abducted the men from Crawford's home in Fairmont to rob them. They were charged with capital murder. (report)
2. March 5: Willie James Turner, 35, was the second of two men found shot to death on the 300 block of 1st Avenue. Lajonas Deshane Powell and Harold Brownlee Jr are alleged to have abducted the men from Crawford's home in Fairmont to rob them. They were charged with capital murder. (report)

Unincorporated Jefferson County

1. January 5: Michael Lee Terry, 23, was found shot to death on the 4300 block of Indian Valley Road in the Pawnee Heights community. His 2007 Lexus was found hours later on Cherry Avenue in Forestdale. No arrest. (report)
2. February 24: Jakesha Wills, 26, was shot to death in a murder-suicide on the 1700 block of Annendale Drive off Brewster Road just north of Birmingham, and west of Trussville. Hugh Wills, 36, was in the process of divorcing her. He shot his wife in the driveway of their home, then killed himself. The couple's 4-year-old son was playing in the yard and was not injured. (report)

Shelby County

1. January 13: John Smith IV, 23, was accidently shot to death at Anthony's Jewelry & Pawn at 4673 U. S. Highway 280. No charges are expected. (report)