A suspect has been charged after a bystander was fatally shot during exhibition driving in downtown Birmingham early Sunday.
Ronald Demetrius White, a 23-year-old Bessemer man, is charged with murder in the killing of 19-year-old Ja’Kia Winston.
A large crowd was gathered in a parking lot in the 800 block of Second Avenue North where drivers were doing burnouts and donuts. According to police and to a video circulating on social media, a vehicle doing a burnout struck another vehicle in the parking lot.
The collision happened just after 3 a.m.
Video of the incident showed a male opening fire immediately after a silver Infiniti was struck. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said police saw White outside of that vehicle immediately after the shooting.
Birmingham detectives presented their evidence to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, which issued the murder warrant.
White is being held on $1.5 million bond.
Fitzgerald said police believer there were also other shooters. They are asking for witnesses to come forward.
Four other people were also wounded, two males and two females.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, hours after the deadly shooting, lashed out against exhibition driving in the city after a young mother was shot to death and four others injured early Sunday morning.
“Exhibition driving is out of control in the city of Birmingham,’’ Woodfin said. “It is not isolated to one part of town but occurring across the city on public streets and too often in private parking lots where no one has granted permission. Exhibition driving is dangerous, and it is a crime.”
Woodfin said what happened Sunday was “not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
“The city of Birmingham will do everything possible to enforce the law, but the truth is the current laws are not strong enough,’’ the mayor said. “The maximum penalty is a ticket for reckless driving.”
Woodfin said the city will work immediately with state lawmakers to obtain tougher laws to end “this public menace.”
Winston was the mother of an 8-month-old son.
“She was my go-to person,’’ said Winston’s mother, Keizia Gaines said. “My world, my rider. We were together every day.”
“My soul is hurt deeply,’’ she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
