A 44-year-old man critically injured in a December house fire has died, and Birmingham police say he was the victim of a homicide.

Birmingham police identified the victim as Ots Jones Jr.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service, Tarrant Fire and Birmingham police and were dispatched at 4:54 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, to a report of a house fire with a person trapped in the 1000 block of Westley Street. That location is in Inglenook, near the City of Tarrant.

Firefighters were able to quickly get inside and pulled Jones from the blaze. They resuscitated him on the scene and rushed him to UAB Hospital where he remained until he was pronounced dead on Friday, Jan. 5.

Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said fire investigators classified the blaze as an arson investigation.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on the victim; the autopsy revealed the victim’s manner of death was Homicide.

Tarrant and Birmingham police investigated the arson, Fitzgerald said. Arson detectives learned the residential property was in Birmingham.

The preliminary investigation shows Jones was at his home with an adult female family member when the house became engulfed in flames.

The family member is a person of interest in this investigation, Fitzgerald said.

On Wednesday, January 10, arson detectives learned the person of interest was in custody for separate charges in a neighboring jurisdiction. Detectives will interview the person of interest.

Jones becomes the Birmingham’s third homicide victim of 2024.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.