A suspect has been charged in the death of a Birmingham husband and father who was found slain inside a burning vehicle on the city’s southwest side.

Tyjuan Martez Phillips Phillips, 39, is charged with capital murder in the slaying of 44-year-old Calvin Dewayne Ball.

Just the year before, Ball’s son, 20-year-old Ja’Calvin Demond Ball, was one of two young men found slain last year also inside a burning vehicle on Birmingham’s east side.

In the elder Ball’s case, West Precinct officers were dispatched at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, to a report of a person down in the 4300 block of Eli Avenue.

When they arrived, said Officer Derell Freeman, they were met by Birmingham firefighters who told them they found the man unresponsive inside the vehicle once they extinguished the flames.

Ball was pronounced dead at 11:53 p.m.

A cause of his death has not yet been confirmed pending further testing, according to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.

A motive has not been disclosed.

Phillips turned himself in at the Jefferson County Jail in Bessemer. He was booked at 9:30 p.m. Monday and remains held without bond.

In the younger Ball’s case, he and Antonio Kasey James, 20, of Pinson, were found shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in the 1600 block of 90th Place North. That is in the Airport Highlands neighborhood of the Airport Hills community.

Birmingham firefighters were called to the wooded area on a report of smoke. They arrived to find the sedan engulfed.

Once they extinguished the blaze, they found two bodies inside. Both were burned beyond recognition.

James was identified through DNA and dental record comparisons.

Ball was identified through DNA.

No arrests have been announced in that case.