Information sought in unsolved slaying of Birmingham man gunned down on his way to Bible study
It’s been just over three years since a Birmingham father was fatally gunned down while he was on his way to Bible study, and police are again asking for any information that could lead to an arrest in the case.
Rodger Burr II, 41, was killed Sept. 30 when, shortly after 5:30 p.m. that Wednesday, someone opened fire on him while he was driving in the 700 block of Carline Avenue.
Police believe Burr was at a stop sign at Avenue T and Carline when another vehicle – a small sedan – pulled alongside him and unleashed a barrage of gunfire.
Burr’s Nissan Rogue rolled a short distance before coming to a stop under a tree in a field. Officers found Burr unresponsive from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead on the scene.
“My son was the joy of our family,’’ his mother, Viola Tabb said, at a vigil held in his memory a week after the shooting. “My son was loved.”
Investigators believe Burr was targeted.
A man was shot to death Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, on Carline Avenue in Birmingham’s Pratt City.
“That day he always goes to Bible study … and he called me and said he was going,’’ Tabb said in 2020. “Twenty minutes later, somebody called me and said my son was dead. It’s the worst heartache I’ve ever had in my life.”
Burr was in the process of remodeling his home which he was one week away from selling when he was killed.
His plan was to take the money from the sale to buy a truck and start his own transport service to make a better life for himself and his daughter.
Burr was raised in the western Birmingham area, and grew up playing football. It was one of his passions, as well as family and nice shoes.
He doted on his daughter CiRiya, who was 5 years old when Burr was killed. “She was the light of his heart,’’ Tabb said.
Tabb said she didn’t know for sure why her son was killed, but she felt in her heart it has something to do with him turning his life around. “My son left the streets, and he was trying to pull the other guys out the streets and that was the reason they got rid of him,’’ she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.