Silent shooting arrest reveals tragic links in 11 homicides: ‘Birmingham is just murder after murder’

The arrest in the September mass shooting in Birmingham’s Five Points South reveals a tangled web linking four people shot outside the Hush lounge to seven other homicides over the past eight years.

Damien Laron McDaniel III, 22, is charged with capital murder in the September mass shooting, Birmingham police announced Wednesday.

McDaniel is also charged with two other homicides, one two days before the Southside shootings and another the following night.

Another of the three other suspects in the shooting that happened the night after the Hush shooting was acquitted of a 2021 homicide, a fatal shooting witnessed by a Birmingham firefighter who died himself in 2023.

Two of Hush’s victims were charged with murder.

One of the victims was acquitted in the 2017 shooting death of a 15-year-old police officer who was killed in retaliation for another shooting in 2015.

Another saw his murder charge in the 2021 shooting of a 20-year-old a year later.

Another of Hush’s victims lost her daughter’s father to an unsolved homicide in 2022.

These are the victims in all cases:

Diontrante Tinae Brown35, September 19, 2024: Brown was said to be an innocent bystander killed in a shooting inside the 604 Bar and Lounge on Ninth Street North.

A vigil for Brown was held the same night as the vigil for Anitra Holloman, 21, who died in the Five Points South mass shooting. Both vigils were held at Railroad Park and both young mothers honored lost to gun violence.

Brown, a graduate of Wenonah High School, leaves behind a 14-year-old son and a host of grieving family and friends.

“She was a sweet, loving person. She lit up the room wherever she went, said Brown’s first cousin, Anthony Gardner. “It’s sad that her life was cut short by such a silly thing.”

McDaniel is charged with her murder. It is unknown how or if the shooting at the bar is connected to the Hush shooting.

Jamarcus McIntyre32, September 22, 2024: McIntyre died in a hail of gunfire in the 700 block of 81st Place South the night after the Five Points South shooting.

Ny’Quan Cordae Lollar, 22, Larry Denzel Rollins, Jr., 31, and Demarco Nakia Beck Jr., 29, were also charged along with McDaniel with capital charges in McIntyre’s death.

Charging documents state that McIntyre was killed while being robbed of a backpack and its contents.

A celebration of life service for McIntyre was held Sept. 28 at Central Missionary Baptist Church and he was laid to rest at Sunrise Memorial Gardens, according to his obituary.

It is also unknown how, or if, this homicide is tied to the Five Points South massacre, other than McDaniel also being charged in that case.

Rollins is linked to two other fatal shootings, though he was only charged in one.

Eric Tyler Sledge Jr., 27, May 2, 2021: Hoover’s 27-year-old father was gunned down on the Southside when police say a physical altercation inside a business spilled into the street and ended with gunfire.

The killing took place around 12:30 a.m. that Sunday in the 1100 block of 20th Street South, not far from the site of the Hush Room shooting three years later.

Survived by his son, parents and friends, Sledge was buried in Huntsville.

Rollins was charged with Sledge’s murder.

Birmingham firefighter Jordan Melton witnessed Sledge’s murder. Rollins’ lawyers argued it was self-defense and he was acquitted.

Jordan Melton, 29, July 12, 2023: Melton was gunned down in a shooting at Birmingham Fire and Rescue Station 9 before testifying in Sledge’s murder.

No one has been charged in Melton’s death, and police have not said whether they have considered Melton witnessing the fatal shooting of Sledge as part of the investigation into Melton’s murder.

Another firefighter, Jamal Jones, was shot, critically wounded and promoted to sergeant.

Melton and Jones were shot shortly before 8:30 a.m. that Wednesday after starting their shift at the Norwood station.

They were performing routine maintenance in the bay area of ​​the station when a gunman opened fire in what police say was a personal and targeted attack.

Melton, affectionately known to many as Chato, has been remembered as an ambitious young man with an infectious smile and an unwavering love for those around him. Not only did he dream of being a firefighter since he was a child, he hoped to one day be a fire chief.

“When Jordan loved you, you knew he loved you,” said his close friend Larry Williams. “There was no place he could be and you don’t know he was there.”

Hush’s victims and their links to other murders

Carlos McCain, 27, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, Holloman, 21, and Tahj Booker, 27, died in the September 21 mass shooting that left 17 others injured.

McCain was acquitted of murder and attempted murder in 2017 in the June 4, 2016, shooting death of 15 year old Kelvon Julius, a junior high school student, who police said was killed in retaliation for another shooting in 2015. A second suspect pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Kelvon was shot around 2:45 a.m. that Saturday morning in the 200 block of 12th Street South and pronounced dead at the scene. A young woman was also shot in the incident and survived her injuries.

Kelvon was involved in a shooting during the summer of 2015 in which the cousin of one of his alleged shooters was the intended target, police said.

When a suspect saw Kelvon that morning, he later shot him in retaliation for the earlier incident, police said.

Kelvon’s family said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“It’s been hard for everybody, especially when you know it wasn’t the intended person,” Kelvon’s cousin, Jaquese Douglas, told WBRC. “Difficulty for everyone. We all hurt.”

It was unclear who was shot or how badly they were injured in the 2015 incident that police say led to Kelvon’s death.

Patterson was previously accused of murder in the June 28, 2021 Shooting of Dentarius Maurice Jackson, 20who was killed at the Chevron gas pumps on First Ave. North.

In 2022, the murder charge against Patterson was dismissed at the request of prosecutors citing “the death, unavailability and uncooperativeness of witnesses”.

Jackson was shot in the face at 10:30 p.m. that Monday at the Chevron at 8730 First Ave. North and died on the day of the nest at the UAB Hospital.

“This hard-working young man was loved by many and will be greatly missed every day,” a GoFundme for Jackson stated.

McCain, who graduated from Jackson-Olin High School in 2015 and was killed outside the Hush lounge, was known to his friends as “Los” and “Lil Carlos.”

“Carlos was a vibrant little boy full of energy. Carlos loved to dress up from head to toe and take the stage to shine like the rare diamond that he was,” according to his obituary.

“He was a fearless and strong warrior,” the obituary read. “Carlos was kind-hearted and had the best sense of humor. Los was known to many as a gentle giant with a beautiful soul.”

Patterson’s funeral was held in Fairfield on October 1. He grew up playing youth athletics (baseball and football) on the west side.

Booker, family members say, shielded Holloman when the shots rang out.

“To know my brother is to love him,” his brother, Jerome Booker, posted on Facebook the day after the shooting. “Everyone who knows Tahj always knew that he will protect anyone around him.”

“After the gunfire stopped, all I heard was my brother calling my name and asking me to be okay,” she wrote. “The whole time she had the girl ReRe (Holloman) in her arms on top of her like she was protecting her because I know what it’s like in that situation.”

“Then he said, ‘I’ve been shot,’ so I picked him up and watched my brother take his last breath,” she wrote.

Holloman was a single mother who was in college studying to become a teacher and working as a tax preparer for her family’s business.

She and her daughter lived with Holloman’s mother, Candance Kemp.

“She was like the other mom,” Kemp said. “I’m always working, trying to take care of the children, so Anitra was my right hand who took care of the family while I was away. She did the grocery shopping, the decorating.”

Demetris Silliman Jr., Holloman’s lover and father of her daughter Skilar, was found shot to death on October 11, 2022.

Silliman was found unresponsive inside a vehicle in the 1100 block of Penfield Drive near Zion City Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:50 am

No one was ever charged in his death.

“Birmingham is just murder after murder,” Kemp recently told AL.com.

“I don’t want retaliatory shooting,” he said of his daughter’s murder.

“I want to be able to go to this courtroom for every court date. I want them arrested, tried and put in prison for the rest of their lives for killing my daughter.”