3rd suspect jailed in murder of Birmingham man, kidnapping of his girlfriend

3rd suspect jailed in murder of Birmingham man, kidnapping of his girlfriend

The third suspect in the shooting death of a man who was found gravely injured while he was seeking help in a Birmingham neighborhood is now in custody.

Brittany Patterson, 33, was taken into custody Saturday, Birmingham police announced on Sunday. She has addresses listed in Kimberly and Mt. Olive.

Previously arrested were Dustin Harry Stanfield, 43, of Hoover, and Joshua Corey Guthrie, 33, of Fairfield.

All three are charged with capital murder and kidnapping in connection with the slaying of 43-year-old David Wayne Nicholas two days before Christmas.

Nicholas’s girlfriend was abducted when he was killed. She was found with one of the suspects the following day, having been stripped and beaten.

The family of Nicholas has launched a GoFundMe to help with his burial. Donations can be made here.

Charging documents stated Nicholas was killed when the suspects did knowingly attempt to abduct or injure or sexually violate the victim, as well as a female victim who survived.

East Precinct officers were dispatched just before midnight that Saturday to a report of a person shot in the 1400 block of Lake Lane N.E.

Officers arrived to find Nicholas wounded. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced Nicholas dead on the scene at 12:53 a.m.

David Wayne Nicholas(Contributed)

Police said Nicholas was assaulted at a home in that neighborhood. He was then able to leave the house and seek help from nearby residents.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Stanfield was taken into custody.

Guthrie, however, was captured the following day by Leeds police officers at the Walmart Supercenter on Whitfield Avenue in Leeds.

Leeds Chief Paul Irwin said the homicide victim’s “significant other” was taken when Nicholas was killed. Police recovered her from Guthrie’s vehicle when he was arrested. The victim was nude and beaten, and was hospitalized with a concussion, she told AL.com.

Birmingham’s East Precinct officers took Patterson into custody Saturday in Woodlawn.

Authorities said those involved knew each other. One of the suspects is the ex-boyfriend of the woman kidnapped.

All three remain held without bond.