Authorities ID 37-year-old Birmingham employee killed in hail of gunfire at Elyton Meat Market

Authorities ID 37-year-old Birmingham employee killed in hail of gunfire at Elyton Meat Market

Authorities have released the name of a man shot to death at a Birmingham store on Wednesday.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Cortez Dekelvin Ware. He was 37, and lived in Birmingham.

The shooting happened at 2 p.m. at the Elyton Meat Market on Center Street North and Third Avenue North. Ware collapsed on the sidewalk just outside the front door where he was pronounced dead at 2:16 p.m.

Police marked at least 10 shell casings near Ware’s body.

According to those who knew Ware and the suspect, both worked at the meat market.

Ware was a longtime employee, and the suspect had only recently started working there.

A shooting happened outside the Elyton Meat Market on Center Street North and Third Avenue North on Jan. 4, 2023. (Carol Robinson)

The two were involved in some kind of dispute on Tuesday. The nature of that dispute wasn’t immediately clear.

Sgt. Monica Law said community members and information obtained through the department’s Real Time Crime Center quickly led police to the suspect. He was taken into custody at nearby Elyton Village public housing community.

The 32-year-old suspect is being held in the Birmingham City Jail awaiting formal charges.

Ware is the city’s second homicide this year. The first homicide took place Monday night on the city’s east side.

“It’s unfortunate to have another homicide,’’ Law said. “Let me say that neither of these were random occurrences.”