The attorney for the family of an Aliceville teen fatally shot by Homewood police said Jabari Peoples was shot once in the back.

Leroy Maxwell, who represents the family of the slain 18-year-old, said Monday he dispatched an investigator to conduct a detailed charting of Peoples’ body.

“Based on the preliminary findings, I can now confirm that Jabari was shot once in the back,” Maxwell said. “This revelation is consistent with the eyewitness account we have obtained, all of which clearly state that Jabari did not possess a weapon at the time he was approached by the officer.”

Maxwell’s announcement came just hours before a Monday night vigil scheduled at Homewood Soccer Park, exactly one week after Peoples died. Family members, preachers and activists are set to speak at the event.

“With these facts now established — the fatal shot to the back and the absence of a weapon — the only remaining question is what the body-worn camera footage will show,” Maxwell said. “That video is critical. It is in the possession of ALEA and has yet to be shared with the family, despite repeated requests.”

Maxwell said he is again demanding that ALEA – which is the lead investigative agency – release the body camera footage to Peoples’ family.

“They deserve to see, with their own eyes, what happened in Jabari’s final moments,” Maxwell said. “The public deserves transparency. Jabari’s family deserves justice. And justice begins with the truth.”

Maxwell said last week that ALEA had denied the family’s request to immediately see the footage and told them they had no time frame for when that could take place.

ALEA has not commented on release of the footage.

Read full coverage the case here

Peoples was a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School who worked as a security guard at DCH Regional Medical Center.

“He loved the idea of law enforcement and wanted to work in law enforcement at some point,” Maxwell said.

“He was a student. He was beloved. He was kind. He was respectful,” Maxwell said. “There’s nothing I’ve seen to counter that narrative whatsoever.”

“He was an 18-year-old with a bright future,” he said. “He has no history whatsoever of being disrespectful to law enforcement.”

Peoples was shot June 23 while he and a female friend were sitting inside a vehicle at Homewood Soccer Park on South Lakeshore Drive near Columbiana Road.

In a statement last week, Homewood police officials said there has been a recent increase in criminal activity in and around the city’s athletic complexes and on Monday, a veteran officer spotted the vehicle in the back corner of the parking lot.

The officer approached the vehicle in his marked police cruiser and saw two occupants sitting in the vehicle, according to the statement. As the uniformed officer approached the vehicle, he smelled the odor of marijuana, police said in the June 25 statement.

The officer ordered both occupants out of the vehicle.

When the driver – now identified as Peoples – exited the vehicle, the officer observed a handgun in the door pocket of the open driver’s side door, according to the police statement.

The officer then attempted to handcuff Peoples to arrest him for unlawful possession of marijuana, and possible other charges, police said, “at which point Mr. Peoples began to actively resist.”

“A physical struggle ensued, at which point the officer was knocked to the ground,” according to the statement.

“Mr. Peoples broke away from the officer and retrieved the handgun from the open driver’s side door pocket, creating an immediate deadly threat to the officer.”

The officer, fearing for his safety, fired one round from his service weapon to defend himself, in accordance with Alabama state law, police said.

“Mr. Peoples fell to the ground, still gripping the handgun in his right hand,” the statement read. “The officer gave multiple verbal commands for Mr. Peoples to let go of the handgun.”

The officer then called for emergency backup as the other vehicle occupant, who had fled into the woods, began approaching the officer.

The officer instructed the other occupant to sit on the curb while he removed the handgun from Peoples’ possession. Medics were then requested to respond to the scene.

According to police, backup officers arrived within one minute and thirty-six seconds after the officer’s request for assistance and immediately began rendering medical treatment to Peoples.

While emergency aid was being rendered, the officer who fired the shot secured the other occupant in the back of his marked Homewood police unit.

Peoples was then taken by Homewood medic to UAB Hospital, where he died.

Peoples’ family is demanding public release of the full police report, all available body cam and dash cam footage, identification of the officer, and a full, independent investigation.

The family said a witness told them Peoples was approached by an individual in an unmarked vehicle, with no lights, no sirens, and no visible identification.

That officer exited the car, tapped on the window, and told the occupants to exit.

“They followed directions,” the statement read. “Jabari complied — and within seconds, he was taken to the ground and shot.”

“We will pursue this case until the truth is fully exposed, and justice is served,” according to the family’s statement posted on Facebook, “not only for Jabari, but for every family who’s been forced to bury a loved one without answers.”