A suspect has been charged in the shooting death of another man inside a Birmingham apartment earlier this week.

Claude Lafayette Hardy Jr., 44, is charged with murder in the Monday slaying of 29-year-old James Lee Washington, according to court documents made public Thursday.

Family members of the victim said Hardy dated Washington’s sister. The victim and his sister lived in the apartment where the deadly shooting happened.

The city’s North Precinct officers were dispatched at 11:30 a.m. Monday to the small apartment building in the 300 block of First Avenue North. That location is just several apartment units in the middle of multiple businesses.

When officers arrived, they found Washington suffering from gunshot wounds inside the unit where he lived, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

CPR was performed on the victim, and he was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:13 p.m.

Police said the preliminary investigation showed Washington and Hardy got into a physical altercation which led to the gunfire. The city’s gunfire detection system – Shot Spotter – detected multiple rounds fired.

Hardy fled the scene before police arrived but was later taken into custody at a hospital where he sought treatment for injuries he sustained.

Hardy was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday and remains held without bond.