Arheel's Uncle
Senior Reporter
Man and pregnant woman missing since Valentine’s Day Man found shot to death in Birmingham alley
Angeliyah ne-vaeh Jolie Webster and Christan Tyre Norris, both 20, are among six homicide victims in the city in one day.
www.al.com
Man and pregnant woman missing since Valentine’s Day found shot to death in Birmingham alley
- Updated: Feb. 17, 2024, 10:01 a.m.|
- Published: Feb. 16, 2024, 6:24 p.m.
A man and a woman were found shot to death Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in a Wylam alley.(Carol Robinson)
By
Two bodies found inside a vehicle in a west Birmingham alley have been confirmed to be a couple missing since Valentine’s Day.
Angeliyah ne-vaeh Jolie Webster and Christan Tyre Norris, both 20, were last seen about 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 1500 block of 20th Place in Ensley.
They were believed to be on their way to a movie date at an unknown theater. They were in a white Ford Taurus.
Family members said Webster was pregnant.
An investigation was immediately launched by the department Special Victims Unit.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald said just before 4 p.m., the investigators received information that led them to the 4100 block of 10th Avenue Wylam. Once there, they found the white Ford Taurus.
Both victims had been fatally shot.
“We do believe this may be the missing couple,’’ Fitzgerald said shortly after the bodies were found. He later confirmed their identities.
Multiple family members of the missing couple responded to the scene.
Christan Tyre Norris and Angeliyah ne-vaeh Jolie Webster(Birmingham Police Department)
“We had hope this would work out, but it appears we’ve lost these two to homicide,’’ Fitzgerald said.
“Both are victims of homicide,’’ he said. “It’s important we point that out with them being a couple.”
The investigation is in its early stages and police will work to confirm where, when, and why the victims were killed.
Shortly before the bodies were found in Wylam, four people were killed in a drive-by shooting in the city’s Smithfield community.
“Today has been unreal,’' Fitzgerald said. “To lose six community members in one day. That is ridiculous.”
Birmingham police Chief Scott Thurmond called Friday’s killings an “unfathomable amount of senseless violence.”
“As a result, five men and one woman lost their lives,’' Thurmond said. “One of those males was a City of Birmingham employee who just completed his shift for the day. All lost their lives because of gun violence.”
“Our city has been rocked to its core by today’s events,’' the chief said. “Our city and communities are hurting beyond belief.”
“Our citizens and the City of Birmingham deserve better,’' he said. “The Birmingham Police Department will work tirelessly to solve these murders as well as many others that remain unsolved.”
Fitzgerald said they need the community’s help in solving both of Friday’s homicides, and any homicide.
“We need to get the message to the public that as long as we keep quiet, people are going to feel emboldened to do violence the way they’ve been conducting, violence,’' he said.
“We live in a culture where you can shoot four people in broad daylight and nobody has come forward yet,’' he said. “We live in a society where you can kill someone in the middle of a Birmingham street and nobody sees anything.”
So far this year, there have been 15 homicides in the city. Of those, one has been ruled justifiable and therefore is not deemed criminal.
In all of the Jefferson County, there have been 18 homicides, including the 15 in Birmingham.
Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.