The FBI and Birmingham police launched a new initiative Monday to renew efforts to bring closure and justice to eight families who have lost loved ones to gun violence in the city.
The faces of Areyelle Yarbrough, Timothy Erby, Ellis Embry, Christian Raspberry, Kenneth Wayne Austin, Lorenzo Cole, Cortney Woods and Leeco Whittington will be featured on billboards and targeted social media advertisements.
The effort also includes $60,000 in reward money - up to $10,000 for each case.
“With the growing number of violence throughout our nation,’’ said Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond, “law enforcement must be proactive and innovative in our operations and approach to engage the public.”
“Our detectives work relentlessly to solve these cases and we have made great strides in this area,’’ the chief said. “However, we do believe there are people who have information, and we need that information.”
“Today’s violent crime problem is taking the lives of too many innocent people and denying too many of our citizens the basic right to feel safe in their homes, in their neighborhoods,’’ said FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. “The FBI is committed to our most fundamental duty and that’s safeguarding peoples’ right to live without fear of violence.”
The FBI has a partnership with Lamar Outdoor Advertising to handle the billboards and other ads. The digital billboards will begin today in strategic locations throughout the city showing the victims and encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI’s tip line.
Residents who live in zip codes 35217, 35215, and 35020 – the l areas where the murders occurred – will receive repeated targeted ads via Facebook and Instagram, also for the next 30 days, Sharp said.
The victims featured are:
- Areyelle Yarbrough, 32, shot to death April 4, 2021, while with friends on W.C. Patton Patton Park on Easter Sunday. A dark-colored SUV drove alongside the park firing multiple shots into the crowd. A shootout followed. In addition to Yarbrough, five other people – ages 5 to 21 – were injured. Investigators believe the gunfight was linked to a Birmingham gang called H2K.
- Timothy Erby, 49, and Ellis Embry, 66, were found shot to death Aug. 5, 2021, inside Embry residence in the 1000 block of 42nd Place North. South Precinct officers were dispatched shortly before 1:30 p.m. that Thursday to the home and found one of the victims unresponsive in the hallway and the other in kitchen.
- Christian Raspberry, 20, was killed in a hail of gunfire on Oct. 10, 2021, in the 4100 block of 41st Avenue North. The shooting happened in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon in the Inglenook community. Raspberry was found in a sedan in someone’s front yard. He struck three other parked vehicles before coming to a rest.
- Kenneth Wayne Austin, 26, was shot to death Nov. 2, 2021, in the 7300 block of Third Avenue North. A second person was injured but survived. The unknown shooters fired the deadly shots from a vehicle that was later determined to have been stolen from a Tuscaloosa car dealership the previous night.
- Brothers Lorenzo Cole, 23, and Cortney Woods, 22, were killed Dec. 14, 2021, while riding together in a vehicle at a gas station parking lot located in the 3800 block of East Lake Boulevard. Police initially said multiple suspects in a dark vehicle opened fire on the white sedan occupied by the brothers. At least 45 shell casings from a rifle and a handgun were marked by crime scene investigators. A suspect was charged with capital murder the charge was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.
- Leeco Whittington, a 24-year-old father of three daughters, was shot to death Jan. 4, 2022, outside a gas station at 36 South Park Road. A second person was injured but survived. Whittington was killed by the occupants of a stolen vehicle.
“There’s not doubt there are individuals out there who know what happened in these cases and the FBI and Birmingham Police Department want to hear from each of you,’’ Sharp said. “We hope that you come forward because it’s the right thing to do to see that justice is served and these victims’ families have closure, but we’re also going to pay you for your information.”
Thurmond said the biggest challenge is solving homicides is finding witnesses willing to come forward.
“In most our cases, we know who is responsible,’’ Thurmond said. “It’s just a matter of getting someone from the public who is willing to come forward and give us the information we need.”
Anyone with information on these eight cases is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Birmingham Police Department at 205-254-1764. Tipsters can remain anonymous and can also submit information online at tips.fbi.gov.
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