The charge against a Hoover man in the shooting death of a Birmingham business owner has been amended by a judge following court testimony earlier this week.

Jefferson County District Judge Katrina Ross on Thursday issued an order saying the case against 23-year-old Sebastian Ross (no relation) will be forwarded to a grand jury for indictment consideration as a murder charge instead of a capital murder charge.

The second suspect and alleged triggerman, identified in documents and court as Jaquies Hoffman, was taken into custody Wednesday on a capital murder warrant.

The deadly shooting happened in the predawn hours of Aug. 24 at Insta-Movers warehouse in south Birmingham.

Charging documents against Ross say 44-year-old Snir Lalum, an Israeli citizen affectionately known by his friends in the U.S. as Sonny, was killed while Ross and Hoffman were stealing an undetermined amount of money.

Ross’s attorney, public defender Sammie Shaw, however contended there was no evidence that a robbery was planned or took place.

A preliminary hearing for Ross was held Tuesday, at which time Birmingham homicide Det. James Glasgow testified about what happened the morning that Lalum was killed.

Testimony showed the ordeal began when a group of Lalum’s employees were at the nearby Circle K before going to the warehouse, which is on Walter Davis Drive in south Birmingham.

Ross approached one of the young Hispanic workers while they were in line to make a purchase, reportedly asking about work. He was told he would have to talk to the boss – Lalum – about getting a job.

Glasgow testified that Ross and Hoffman then followed the Insta-Movers workers to the warehouse. Ross was seen on surveillance video first talking to the workers and then to Lalum when he arrived at work.

Ross told Lalum he would work for cheap but wanted 50 percent up front. He then lowered that to 10 percent.

Glasgow acknowledged that Ross twice entered the warehouse, at least one of those times with Lalum’s permission, but was eventually told to leave, that “you’re not needed here.”

Ross got into a Nissan Frontier, which had been reported stolen from a Hoover apartment complex earlier in the night. The suspect left the parking lot but came back a short time later “at a high rate of speed.”

At that point, video showed, Hoffman got out of the SUV carrying a gun and went into the warehouse.

He reportedly told Ross he had to use the bathroom.

A gunshot was heard, and then Hoffman exited, yelling to Ross, “I had to pop him.”

The pair fled the scene.

Police found Lalum suffering from a gunshot wound inside a warehouse bay. They attempted life-saving measures until Birmingham firefighters arrived to take him to UAB Hospital.

Lalum was pronounced dead at the hospital at 5:50 a.m.

Police quickly identified suspects in the case and took Ross into custody in just over 24 hours. Hoffman was captured in Tallassee this week by U.S. Marshals.

Glascow testified that initially Ross denied being at the Circle K or the Insta-Movers warehouse that day, saying he was with his girlfriend and at school.

The detective said Ross admitted to being there only after he was shown surveillance images of him at the warehouse and the store.

Glascow said Ross, when arrested, was in possession of a gun that looked similar to the gun Hoffman was carrying the day of the murder. He also told detectives he took the gun from the seat of the Nissan Frontier on the day of the homicide.

Ballistics tests have not yet been completed.

Shaw said in closing arguments that prosecutors had not met the burden of probably cause for Ross to be charged with capital murder.

“It’s clear from the testimony and from the video that Mr. Ross didn’t shoot anyone that day. If anyone was shot, Mr. Hoffman is the person who did it,’’ the public defender said. “The only evidence we have is that Sebastian Ross happened to be present when that occurred. That’s not enough.”

“You haven’t heard any evidence from anyone that there was any demand for any property taken, that this was planned, that they found anything that belonged to this business,’’ Shaw said. “There is no evidence of a robbery or a planned robbery at all.”

“You have to believe stuff that wasn’t presented,’’ Shaw said, “to believe this was a robbery.”

The judge, during the hearing, questioned why capital murder was the charge instead of murder.

The prosecutor explained they believed robbery was the motive.

“We have this defendant on video who followed workers to this warehouse,’’ Stewart said. “He comes up to (the victim) and starts spouting off, trying to get money up front with no proof that he could do the work.”

“When the victim refused, and said, ‘you’re not needed here’ and wouldn’t pay him up front for any of the work, when he’s turned away, he sends his buddy in with a gun who shoots the victim,’’ Stewart said.

“He’s trying to get money out of the victim,’’ he said.

The case will be presented to a grand jury, which could decide to indict Ross on the murder charge, again increase the charge to capital murder, or not indict at all.