A Montgomery man has been convicted in a Birmingham home invasion that killed a man and wounded his pregnant girlfriend.

Melvin Charles Morris, 46, was initially charged with capital murder during a burglary in the Feb. 6, 2020, shooting death of 27-year-old Devonta Reddick.

He was also charged with attempted murder in the wounding of Sabrea Baylor, who delivered the couple’s baby the day after the shooting.

Morris’s trial began July 14.

A Jefferson County jury on Wednesday found Morris guilty on the lesser charges of felony murder and first-degree assault in Baylor’s wounding.

Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace set a sentencing date for Sept. 24.

Birmingham police Sgt. Kenneth Ivory was the lead investigator.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Charissa Henrichs and Nick Taggart. Morris was represented by Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office attorneys Paul McDaniel, Michelle Spiker and Gustavo Heudebert.

A second suspect – 32-year-old Cameron Dejuan Blanding – is awaiting trial also on charges of capital murder and attempted murder.

Blanding was one of two men arrested several months ago following an east Jefferson County chase. It wasn’t clear why he was out on bond in the capital murder case, but his bond was revoked following his March arrest.

Reddick and Baylor were asleep in their home on Dogwood Lane off Five Mile Road when at least two men forced their way inside about 6:30 a.m. that Thursday.

Reddick was found unresponsive in the front yard and pronounced dead on the scene. Baylor, who was nine months pregnant, was wounded but both she and the baby survived.

U.S. Marshals took Morris into custody six months later in Nashville.

Testimony showed that Reddick, Baylor and their 3-year-old were asleep when two men kicked down the front door, tearing the door jamb from the door.

Reddick came out of the bedroom, followed by Baylor who had grabbed her weapon because of the loud bang they heard.

When they got into the living room, Baylor testified that she saw two men. Reddick went to fight the two males.

The suspects began firing their weapons and Baylor was struck in the leg. She returned fire.

Reddick yelled for her to go to the 3-year-old-child. She ran to the child’s bedroom where he was sleeping and closed the door.

Baylor testified that she heard an older voice thundering down the hallway toward her yelling, “where that bitch at?”

The suspects kicked the bedroom door open and shot at Baylor, engaging in a gun battle with her. She was then shot several more times.

During the exchange of gunfire, Baylor shot Morris in the neck. The suspects then fled the home.

Reddick died in the front yard.

Baylor ran for help with her child to her grandparents’ house across the street.

After several weeks without any suspects, the investigation unfolded based on statements from Morris which were made during an interview in a Montgomery hospital to Birmingham detectives, Henrichs said.

Morris had fled to Montgomery in a vehicle which had been spotted by Baylor’s grandfather.

Cell phone records and telephone mapping by the CAST division of the FBI put Morris and his co-defendant in proximity to the crime scene, Henrichs said.

Reddick and Baylor had been together for more than a year and had just recently celebrated their son’s impending birth with a baby shower.

Reddick grew up in the eastern area and attended Tarrant High School. After high school he went to work for a plastics fabrication company and also aspired to become a rapper. He left behind two other children, ages 8 and 2.

His death was a hard-hit for the family.

 “He was just a very sweet person, always laughing and making jokes,’’ his sister, Karlisha Reddick, said in an earlier interview.

“He was always the person that kept the family together, that wanted everybody to be together. He was a really good man.”