By: SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham police have charged two additional suspects in the weekend shooting death of a Birmingham father whose family says he was gunned down in front of his young daughter.
Authorities announced that Donta Lamar Mitchell, 19, of Hoover, and Joshua De’Albert Muse, 18, of Birmingham, are now charged with capital murder during a robbery in the killing of 33-year-old Morgan Brown. A 15-year-old suspect had previously been charged in the case.
East Precinct officers were dispatched just before 5 p.m. Saturday to a report of a person shot in the 8000 block of First Avenue South in the South East Lake community. When officers arrived, Brown was found unresponsive inside a vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead at the scene.
According to Sgt. LaQuitta Wade, preliminary findings indicate Brown was robbed and fatally shot, with the suspects fleeing immediately after the shooting. Police said all three suspects were taken into custody within 24 hours of Brown’s death.
Brown’s loved ones described him as a devoted father who doted on his daughter and was expecting another child. His daughter’s maternal grandmother, Darcel Smith, said the child was nearby when the shooting occurred and pleaded with the suspects not to shoot her father.
“He didn’t deserve this,” Smith said. “Our family, my grandbaby didn’t deserve this.”
Family members said Brown was known for his generosity and willingness to help others, calling the killing senseless.
“He would do anything to help people, and he loved his family,” Smith added.
Brown is Birmingham’s first homicide of 2026. City officials noted that Birmingham ended 2025 with 88 homicides, the lowest total in a decade, and recorded its highest homicide clearance rate in recent years, well above the national average.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Birmingham Police detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
