$20,000 reward offered for information in Birmingham quadruple homicide

$20,000 reward offered for information in Birmingham quadruple homicide

A $20,000 reward is being offered for information in last week’s deadly quadruple shooting in a Birmingham neighborhood.

Crime Stoppers on Thursday announced a $5,000 reward for each of the four victims.

Killed in the Feb. 16 shooting were Talton “TJ” Tait, 36, Cortez Ray, 31, Terrell Edwards, 38, and Kevin McGhee, 38.

The shooting happened about 2:45 p.m. Friday outside Tait’s family home in the 900 block of Center Street North in Smithfield where he ran a neighborhood car wash.

Investigators believe at least one person in a vehicle carried out the deadly, targeted drive-by. At least 39 shots were fired.

Edwards and Ray, one of whom was there getting a car wash, fell in front of the home near the cars. Tait, a father of four, ran a short distance before collapsing on the side of a neighbor’s house.

All three were pronounced dead on the scene.

McGhee was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The four victims had known each other since childhood. They all leave behind children.

Edwards was a city employee who started in Public Works and moved to Parks and Recreation. He had just clocked out at 2:30 p.m. that day. His cousin, McGhee, picked him up, and then they went to Smithfield.

Investigators have received very few tips during the investigation so far, said Sgt. LaQuitta Wade.

“We need more information,’’ she said.

“It’s just as important to solve this homicide as it is any other,’’ Wade said. “It’s just that four lives – actually six – in a less than 24-hour time span.”

A drive-by shooting in Birmingham’s Smithfield community left four men dead on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.(Carol Robinson)

Just an hour after the quadruple killing, a Birmingham couple missing since Valentine’s Day were found slain in a vehicle in a Wylam alley.

Angeliyah ne-vaeh Jolie Webster, who was pregnant, and Christan Tyre Norris, both 20, whose bodies were found about 4 p.m. that Friday inside Norris’ vehicle in the 1500 block of 20th Place in Ensley.

Webster was a cousin of Mayor Randall Woodfin, who spoke about the killings earlier this week.

“We want to demand justice for these six victims and unborn child,” Woodfin said. “We want to demand justice for their families, because they deserve it.”

Police Chief Scott Thurmond previously called the slayings “heinous.”

“It is really disgusting that these things continue to happen in our city over and over again and people got to learn other ways to resolve their conflicts … It disturbs the entire neighborhood,” the chief said at the scene. “It’s something that’s going to rock our city, it’s going to rock this neighborhood.”

Tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Callers are assigned an ID number and Crime Stoppers and police never know the identity of the caller.

The tipster uses that ID number to collect the reward – which is paid in cash.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.