The violence that claimed six lives Friday in Birmingham hit close to home for Randall Woodfin, whose cousin was among the homicide victims, the mayor said.

“This has been a heartbreaking afternoon for our city. A half dozen families are in mourning. That includes the family of one of our city employees. That also includes my own family,” Woodfin said in a Facebook post Friday night.

“In two unrelated incidents, four men were killed by gunfire in Smithfield. And in Wylam, two people were found dead. One of them was my cousin,” he said.

The Wylam homicide victims were believed to be Angeliyah ne-vaeh Jolie Webster and Christan Tyre Norris, both 20, who were a couple and were last seen about 5 p.m. Wednesday — Valentine’s Day — in the 1500 block of 20th Place in Ensley.

They were believed to be on their way to a movie at an unknown theater. They were in a white Ford Taurus.

Family members said Webster was pregnant.

Their bodies were found Friday in an alley in the 4100 block of 10th Avenue Wylam. They were shot, police said.

“My family is no stranger to the devastating consequences of violence. The pain never gets easier,” the mayor continued, referring to the death of his nephew, 17-year-old Ralph “Li Ralph” Woodfin, who was shot dead in Tarrant in 2017. “This level of loss is distressing, unacceptable and cannot – must not – be tolerated.”

“But right now I’m not thinking about myself. I’m thinking about that employee’s family who now has an empty chair at the dinner table. I’m thinking about my cousin’s mother. I’m thinking about the other four families who are facing the unimaginable right now,” Woodfin continued.

Also on Friday afternoon, a hail of gunfire left four men dead in Birmingham’s Smithfield community.

Dozens of shots rang out about 2:45 p.m. in the 900 block of Center Street North.

Police said the men were standing outside of a house where people get their cars wash when it appears someone drove by and opened fire.

No suspects were in custody as of Friday night.

The homicides occurred a little more than a week after Woodfin’s State of the City address in which the mayor said public safety is his top priority.

While homicides in the city decreased in 2023 from 2022 levels, the mayor said the rate was not declining enough.

“The trend line is decreasing: I want it to decrease faster,” Woodfin said. “We made some necessary investments on the prevention and re-entry end, not just enforcement over six years.”

The city spends $8 million annually on all the programs for crime prevention, he said. “Part of this job requires every day citizens to do their part as well,” he said.

The mayor implored anyone with information on either incident to call CrimeStoppers at 205-254-7777.

“Justice cannot be achieved in the dark. The families of these victims deserve answers and the cowards who have such a reckless disregard for life must pay for their actions,” Woodfin posted on social media Friday.

“Pray for the hurting families. Pray for justice. Pray for us.”