A deadly Birmingham shooting following a dispute on the social audio app Clubhouse showed the suspect on surveillance video lunging toward a victim with what appeared to be a gun, a detective testified on Tuesday.

The attorney for that suspect contends his client was shot at first and there is no way he should have been charged in what could possibly be a self-defense shooting.

Roddregus Williams-Johnson, 32, is charged with capital murder in the Aug. 10 slaying of 32-year-old Brandon Lee.

He is also charged with attempted murder in the wounding of Keandra Hendrix, who was Lee’s girlfriend and who police say was involved in a dispute with the suspect.

Jefferson County District Judge Katrina Ross ruled there was enough evidence to send the charges to a grand jury for indictment consideration.

North Precinct officers were dispatched about 11:55 p.m. that Saturday to 30th Avenue North in Birmingham’s Collegeville public housing community.

Officers made entry into the home and found a man and woman injured.

Lee was pronounced dead on the scene. The woman was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Two children, ages 7 and 5, were inside the home were unharmed.

The dispute between Williams-Johnson and Hendrix appears to have started on the social audio app Clubhouse, which is similar to a Zoom call.

The argument could be heard on the app as the suspect arrived at the apartment and listeners said to call police.

Multiple shots were then heard.

Jefferson County Deputy District Charissa Henrich is prosecuting the case. Williams-Johnson is represented by attorney Roderick Walls.

Birmingham homicide Det. Ronald Davenport was the lone witness in the hour-long hearing.

Davenport said when he arrived at the apartment, Lee was dead in the kitchen from gunshot wounds to the chest, torso, hand and arm.

Hendrix had been taken to UAB Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head, and cuts and scrapes from shrapnel.

Detectives found about eight shell casings on the scene – one from a 9 mm gun, and the rest from a 40-caliber gun.

No gun was found in Lee’s apartment, and no guns have been found in connection with the shooting, Davenport said.

Hendrix told investigators she was at the apartment with Lee and his two children. Williams-Johnson, a contractor who did maintenance at the public housing complex, showed up at the home, she told them.

Davenport said Williams-Johnson and Lee did not know each other, but that Williams-Johnson and Hendrix were acquaintances and were in some type of argument. He did not disclose the nature of the dispute.

Williams-Johnson arrived at the apartment in a burgundy SUV and Hendrix was standing at the doorway of the apartment. At some point, Lee came downstairs and was standing behind his girlfriend.

The interaction was captured on Birmingham Housing Authority surveillance cameras monitored by the police department’s Real Time Crime Center.

Davenport said Williams-Johnson had a cell phone in one hand and what appeared to be a gun in his other hand.

He said there was no audio on the footage, but it showed the two arguing. Lee could not be seen on the video.

Williams-Johnson, he said, “lunged” toward Hendrix and then started firing, continuing to do so as he ran back toward the waiting SUV.

At around 1:40 a.m. that Sunday, Williams-Johnson showed up at UAB Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to his left arm. North Precinct officers detained him, and he has been in custody since then.

Davenport said video from UAB Hospital showed Williams-Johnson arriving at the emergency room in the burgundy SUV seen in Collegeville. He was wearing the same clothing as the shooter in the housing authority footage.

Under questioning from defense attorney Walls, Davenport said Hendrix did not tell him who fired the first shot.

Williams-Johnson, testimony showed, said that Lee fired on him first.

“I didn’t find anything in the video to confirm or deny,’’ Davenport said.

Asked by Walls why charges were filed against Williams-Johnson when he claimed he was shot at first, Davenport said the gunfire didn’t start until the suspect lunged at Hendrix.

“In my experience as being a homicide detective,’’ Davenport said, “just because you didn’t shoot first, doesn’t mean you’re not wrong.”

Walls asked the detective if he was aware that Hendrix had posted statements in the Clubhouse app that contradicted what she told police, and Davenport said he had heard rumors of that but that investigators have not yet been able to get access to the Clubhouse posts.

Davenport also responded to questions from the defense attorney that Hendrix said she did not know what happened to the gun used by Lee.

Walls argued the charges against his client should be dismissed.

“To charge him with capital murder is not just a stretch, but goes beyond,’’ Walls said. “If someone shoots you with a 9 mm gun, you have a right to shoot back and that’s where we are.”

Henrich pointed out that Williams-Johnson never called 911 and is a convicted felon so therefore shouldn’t have been in possession of a firearm.

“Does that make him guilty of capital murder?’’ Walls asked.

The prosecutor said any possible self-defense arguments are an issue for a jury to decide and not something decided at a probable cause hearing.

Judge Ross said she understands Hendrix has made conflicting statements, however her initial statement is what the detectives based the warrants on.

“The victim stated that (Williams-Johnson) shot her and her boyfriend and there’s a foundation for the capital murder because of the shooting into an occupied dwelling and there were also children present,’’ Ross said. “I feel the state has met its burden of probable cause.”