Suspect held on $1.25 million bond in May shooting death of man found slain on Birmingham sidewalk

Suspect held on $1.25 million bond in May shooting death of man found slain on Birmingham sidewalk

A suspect has been charged in the May slaying of a 41-year-old man who was found dead on a north Birmingham sidewalk.

Roderick Jimelle Needham Jr., 22, is charged with murder in the death of 41-year-old Courtney Demond Mays.

The murder warrant against Needham was issued Sept. 13, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, and Needham was taken into custody Oct. 5 by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

He is being held on $1.25 million bond.

Mays was killed May 5. North Precinct officers were dispatched at 3:20 a.m. that Thursday to a report of a person shot in the 1600 block of 26th Avenue North.

A man was found shot to death May 5, 2020, on a north Birmingham sidewalk.

Officers arrived to find Mays unresponsive on the sidewalk. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.

Fitzgerald said the investigation showed that an altercation may have taken place inside a home prior to shots being fired.

Needham is also facing charges of attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection with the Sept. 6 shooting of another man, also in Birmingham.

Court records show he pleaded guilty to robbery in 2017 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with three years to actually serve.