$125K Reward Offered To Solve 5 Children Shootings In Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Following multiple shootings involving children this year, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin is fed up and taking action. During a news conference Tuesday, surrounded by faith-based leaders and a mother of a child recently shot, he pleaded with the community to do its part to help make the city a safer place.

“We have a lot of cowards out here in our community. The thing about a coward is they’ll keep shooting. We are better than this," Woodfin said. "For all the things that are happening in our community, as adults none of us have the luxury to sit on the sidelines and just think ‘oh, that’s another shooting.’”

Six children under the age of 10 have been shot in Birmingham this year — one of them died from their injuries. An arrest has been made in only one of the cases, according to the mayor.

"There’s a line that’s been crossed when children are shot. There’s definitely a line that’s been crossed when children are killed," Woodfin said.

With the help of faith-based leaders, Crime Stoppers, the Birmingham Housing Authority and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Woodfin hopes a new $125,000 reward will lead to tips to solve the other five cases.

A $25,000 reward will be available for each case.

In one of those cases, 2-year-old Major Turner was shot and killed while sitting on the couch with his mother on the evening of Feb. 4. The shooting happened at the Kimbrough Homes apartment complex in the 2900 block of John Bryant Road. No arrests have been made in the case.

One mother, Katrina Grady, a certified nursing assistant, spoke during Woodfin’s news conference about the shooting that nearly took her daughter's life this year.

“Never in a million years would I expect something like that to happen," she said.

On May 18, Grady said she and her family came up on a crashed vehicle near the intersection of Warrior Road and Avenue N and decided to try and help.

“My first instinct as a nursing assistant was to see what was going on, make sure no one was in the car, make sure nobody was hurt," she said. "As I approached the car, I noticed no one was in there. At that time, I hear the neighbors hollering to get down, my husband was telling me to get down as well."

As Grady took cover, a vehicle came up the street and started shooting. Her daughter was struck in the head and shoulder yet miraculously survived.

“Never in a million years would I expect something like that to happen. It makes you scared to want to help anybody," she said. "Somebody knows who did this to my child. I want justice."

Faith-based pastors like Thomas Beavers of Star Church in Birmingham hope the reward money he and other faith-based leaders helped raise will motivate people to come forward with information.

“It’s so easy to point the finger and talk about what people are not doing. But whenever you point the finger at somebody else, you have three fingers pointing back at yourself," Beavers said. "How can we as a community point the finger at other people when we have a 'no snitch rule' inside of our community, and we refuse to speak up."

Anyone with information on the shootings mentioned or any other unsolved case can call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may qualify for a reward.