It’s been nearly two years since Salhadine Adamou was murdered in Birmingham, and his family and investigators have not given up hope of finding out who killed him, and why.

The 22-year-old Bessemer City High School graduate, whose family moved to the U.S. from Togo, Africa in 2007, was fatally shot July 3, 2023, in downtown.

His grieving family members, including his oldest brother Salam, said they want answers, and justice.

“Our mom cannot sleep at all because somebody took her son, the son she worked hard to bring to the United States,” said Salam, who lives in Chicago. “And we can’t do anything about it.”

The shooting happened just before 2:30 a.m. that Monday on Third Avenue North, near Interstate 65.

Salhadine and another man were inside a vehicle when they were shot. They drove about a block before stopping near the parking lot of the Marathon convenience store at 11th Street and Third Avenue North.

Skids marks showed where they left Third Avenue and drove to where they stopped.

Salhadine was unresponsive when first responders arrived. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:25 a.m.

The second man’s injuries weren’t life-threatening.

Police at the time said officers were already in the area investigating street racing and exhibition driving when the surviving flagged them down and told them he and his friend had been shot.

It was not clear if the shooting was linked to the exhibition driving, but Salam said Salhadine did participate in street races.

“That’s what he started getting into at the end of his journey,” he said, “and he loved it.”

The family moved to Chicago 18 years ago. The three Adamou brothers lived together initially with their mother.

Salhadine moved to Bessemer to live with his father and graduate high school, and the middle brother eventually moved to New York.

Salam stayed in Chicago with their mother. He said he and Salhadine grew up extremely close.

“I’m the oldest, so he always followed my footsteps,” Salam said with a laugh. “Anything I did, he would try to do or mimic throughout his life. He took that with him to Birmingham where he moved with my father.”

“I practically raised him,” he said. “A lot of his pictures are my clothes that he had on.”

The plan was for Salhadine to graduate from high school, which he did in 2020, and then return to Chicago. That never happened.

Salhadine got into trouble with the law and was charged with theft of property, and told his brother he couldn’t leave the state. Those charges, however, were later dismissed.

Salhadine worked in a warehouse at the time of his death.

“The last time I talked to him, I was telling him to move here,” Salam said.

Salam said his brother liked to help others.

“He was just a regular young guy that liked to help whenever he could,” he said. “So, I’m little surprised about how he ended up in a situation that he got in.”

“But I wasn’t in Birmingham,” Salam said, “so I don’t know the truth about what happened.”

“We’re practically in the dark about what really happened that night,” he said.

Salam said he’s gotten multiple different stories about what may have happened.

“His friends who were with them that night, I don’t know what type of mentality these people have, but they don’t want to talk and say what happened,” he said.

“I want to know who did it, and then why,” Salam said. “What did he do to deserve how he died?”

“The most import part, of course, is we miss him,” he said. “We think about him every day.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Crime Stoppers is offering a tip of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.