Officials have charged four people with capital murder in relation to a shooting that left two year old Ron’Narius “Duke” Austin dead. Tyrone Smith (18), D’Marcco Harris (21), Mykayl Harris (20), and Joshua Carpenter (21) are all being held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
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The shooting occurred around 11:30 pm on Saturday night at the 4200 block of Fourth Avenue South in the Avondale district. Police found three victims at the scene: Duke who was shot in the head, his mother who was hit in the arm, and an unnamed driver who was shot in the back. Duke’s father was in the car but was not injured. He was holding his son when he died.
Birmingham Mayor William Bell and Police Chief A.C. Roper held a press conference on Monday to address the slaying. Bell expressed remorse over the situation saying, “In my mind, I can’t understand any situation where someone would pull a gun and fire into an occupied vehicle with the intent of taking lives… I can assure that any loss of life of a child is a tragic situation. Under no circumstances will we accept that as an everyday occurrence, under no circumstances will we allow that to go un-checked.”
Police say that the car Duke was riding in was somehow involved in a shootout with another vehicle before Duke was killed. The suspects fled the scene, but guns were found in both vehicles, including in the back seat of the victims’ car. However, members of Duke’s family had spoken out, saying that his parents would never purposely put him in harm’s way.
In the press conference, Bell and Roper stressed the importance of a vigilant community when it comes to fighting crime. “We can’t have a police officers on every corner. We can’t have a police officer in every vehicle. We can’t have a police officer in every home or apartment,” Bell said. “We’ve got to continue to strive to make our streets safer.” Roper added that at some point people must understand that they will be held accountable for their actions. “So we’re being very diligent in piecing together those critical moments that led up the shooting. The bottom line is at the end of the day, there is no substitute for personal responsibility.”
Birmingham police are still looking for details surrounding the shootout between the two vehicles. Anyone with information can call Birmingham homicide detectives at (205) 254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at (205) 254-7777.
