Suspect arrested in Birmingham's 5 Points South mass shooting is believed to have killed six people in three days

A 22-year-old Fairfield man is behind bars, accused of killing six people in 72 hours in Birmingham, including four people in the mass shooting outside the Hush Lounge in Five Points South.

Damien Laron McDaniel III is charged with murder of two or more people in the massacre that killed four people on Sept. 21 and 17 counts of aggravated assault on those injured.

McDaniel is also charged with the Sept. 19 murder of Diontrante Tinae Brown, a 35-year-old mother who police say was shot as an innocent bystander at the 604 Bar and Lounge on Ninth Street North.

McDaniel faces an additional murder charge in the robbery-related shooting death of 32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre, who was killed in a hail of gunfire in the 700 block of 81st Place South less than 24 hours after the shooting in Five Points South.

Additionally, McDaniel is charged with three counts of attempted murder in the Sept. 22 shooting that not only killed McIntyre but also injured two others.

Police say all three murder cases are related, but have not publicly disclosed what is connected to the deaths.

“They have a common suspect in all three cases for a charged matter… This is just a step forward. There is much more to come in this investigation as we prepare for court,” Police Chief Scott Thurmond said when asked Wednesday about the connection in the cases.

The investigation is ongoing and has far-reaching implications for other crimes, including the lucrative illegal drug trade across the city and beyond.

“After the horrific shooting in Five Points South, we vowed that our priority would be to find, capture and arrest every person responsible for this heinous and brazen mass shooting,” Mayor Randall Woodfin wrote on Facebook.

“We told you we would do this and we did. “Today was a big step toward justice,” Woodfin wrote.

Three other people were also charged with McIntyre's murder – Ny'Quan Cordae Lollar, 22, Larry Denzel Rollins, Jr., 31, and Demarco Nakia Beck Jr., 29.

Charging documents say McIntyre was killed when a backpack and its contents were stolen.

Lollar was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 5:57 p.m. Tuesday on a warrant for murder and a warrant for failure to appear for a previous felony.

Rollins, who was acquitted earlier this year in a 2021 murder that also took place in Southside, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in McIntyre's death as well as heroin trafficking.

He has been held in the Birmingham City Jail for several days awaiting formal arrest warrants.

Rollins was found not guilty in April of killing 27-year-old Hoover father Eric Tyler Sledge Jr. on May 2, 2021.

Slain Birmingham firefighter Jordan Melton was a witness to Sledge's murder and was scheduled to testify in the Rollins trial. However, Melton was shot dead in a targeted shooting at Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service's Station 9 last year.

No one has been charged in Melton's death.

Rollins is also accused of heroin trafficking.

Beck was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Wednesday at 1:13 p.m. He has previously been arrested on gun and drug charges.

McDaniel was arrested last week at a home in Fairfield. He was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Tuesday, October 8, at 4:11 p.m., on a probation violation stemming from a prior felony conviction.

According to court documents, McDaniel pleaded guilty on April 26, 2023, to two counts of attempted murder in a 2021 shooting in Fairfield. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with two years in prison followed by three years of probation.

Last week, Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff Assistant District Attorney Lane Tolbert filed a motion to revoke McDaniel's probation.

Tolbert said McDaniel was recorded on social media brandishing firearms at least nine times between April 1, 2024 and October 1, 2024.

Prosecutors said McDaniel violated his probation by engaging in “harmful and vicious habits.”

McDaniel also violated probation by avoiding people and places of disreputable condition and character and by being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.

Bessemer Cutoff Circuit Judge David Carpenter issued a warrant for his arrest on the revocation charge.

A vehicle believed to be connected to the fatal shooting outside Hush was also recovered in Fairfield.

Sources say the possible connections between the mass shooting and Fairfield, as well as the rumors and fear of retaliatory shootings, were part of the reason for the postponement of Fairfield City Schools' homecoming activities and Fairfield Alumni Week activities.

In addition, Miles College has moved up the kickoff time for its Oct. 5 homecoming game and postponed its parade.

Thurmond thanked several agencies that assisted in the investigation, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Marshals Service.

The chief said investigators have been working day and night since the murders occurred more than three weeks ago.

“We have six people who lost their lives, not to mention the 17 people who were injured in the mass shooting at the 5 Points South entertainment district,” Thurmond said, adding that the impact and magnitude is “tremendous for our city , our community” are , our business owners, law enforcement. The number of hours put into this investigation is astronomical.”

Thurmond said more than 300 tips were submitted either through Crime Stoppers or the department's QR code.

“We’ve never gotten so many tips anyway,” he said.

Police began notifying victims of the arrests on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“One of the greatest things a detective can do in their career is to tell a family that you were able to achieve justice or peace for their loved one who was either injured or killed,” Thurmond said. “It's worth it.

“I saw my brother take his last breath”

Saturday marked a month since police say several gunmen fired more than 100 shots – including automatic shots – into a long line of people waiting to enter Hush on Magnolia Avenue.

The gunfire erupted just after 11 p.m. Saturday, killing Carlos McCain, 27, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, Anitra Holloman, 21, and Tahj Booker, 27. Seventeen others – presumably innocent bystanders – sustained injuries ranging from superficial to critical.

Police quickly said they believed the gunfire was a “hit” – a contract killing targeting at least one of the men killed in the shootout.

Two of the victims, Carlos De'Juan McCain, 27, and Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, were both charged with previous murders in Birmingham.

McCain was acquitted of murder and attempted murder in the 2017 shooting death of 15-year-old Kelvon Julius. Police said he was killed in retaliation for another shooting in 2015. A young woman was also injured in the shooting that killed Kelvon.

Kelvon's murder occurred on June 4, 2016, on 12th Street South. A second suspect pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Patterson was previously charged with murder in the 2021 shooting death of 20-year-old Dentarius Maurice Jackson, who was at the gas pumps at the Chevron on First Ave. North was shot.

In 2022, the murder charge against Patterson was dismissed at the prosecutor's request, citing “death, unavailability and lack of cooperation from witnesses.”

“There could be multiple motives for the one person we believe was targeted. “Others could have been targeted,” Thurmond said previously. “We’re still looking into it.”

“Some of the people killed have a long criminal history and so there is often motivation from others and there are people who are willing to pay to kill them,” the chief said.

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Court records show no criminal records for the other two people killed – Anitra Hollomon, 21, and Tahj Booker, 27.

Some, if not all, of the victims were out that Saturday evening celebrating Jackson-Olin High School alumni events, which included a picnic that same day.

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

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

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

McCain's funeral took place on September 28, a week to the day after the mass shooting.

Patterson's funeral was held in Fairfield on October 1. He grew up playing youth sports – baseball and football – in the western region.

Both Booker and Holloman had separate funerals on Saturday, October 5th.

Family members say Booker was protecting Hollomon 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. “Anyone who knew Tahj always knew he would protect everyone around him.”

“After the shooting stopped, all I heard was my brother calling my name and asking if I was OK,” he wrote. “The whole time he had the girl ReRe (Holloman) in his arms as if he was protecting her because I know how he is in that situation.”

“Then he said, 'I'm shot,' so I took him away from her and watched my brother take his last breath,” he wrote.

Holloman was a single mother whose longtime boyfriend was shot two years ago while she was pregnant with her daughter. She studied to be a teacher in college and worked as an accountant for her family's business.

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

“My baby was shot four times,” Kemp previously told AL.com. “She had no chance.”

“They really broke my heart,” Kemp said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.