Residents in Birmingham’s Woodlawn area will soon be receiving mailers aimed at solving one of the city’s murders.
Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama is using the mailer to reach a targeted audience they believe could have vital information in the May shooting death of UAB researcher David Gibbs Westbrook Jr.
The 50-year-old Westbrook randomly killed just after he finished walking his dog at a nearby soccer field. A $20,000 reward stands for information leading to an arrest and conviction of Westbrook’s killer.
“We think there is some chance some change somebody in the neighborhood might have some information on the Westbrook case but has been reluctant to come forward or doesn’t think their information is significant,’’ said Crime Stoppers Executive Director Bob Copus.
“We’ve sent a mailer to try to encourage anyone in that neighborhood who might have noticed a stranger or suspicious person walking through their street during the night of crime,’’ Copus said.
Police from the city’s East Precinct were dispatched just before 11 p.m. that Monday, May 23, to 135 54th Street North after Shot Spotter alerted them to gunfire in the area.
Once on the scene, they found an SUV had crashed into a utility pole, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. They quickly determined the driver had been shot.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced Westbrook dead on the scene at 11:16 p.m.
The investigation showed that Westbrook had just finished walking his dog at a nearby soccer field when he was approached by a male wearing dark track pants with a white stripe down the leg and a gray hooded sweatshirt with a light-colored design on the chest.
Nearby surveillance video captured video of the suspect.
The unknown suspect shot Westbrook as he tried to back out of his parking space.
Investigators have said the shooting appeared to be completely random.
Westbrook, an Arkansas native, was the manager of the Christian Faul Lab at UAB’s Heersink School of Medicine and had worked at UAB and in academic research for more than 25 years.
He had a degree in microbiology from the University of Arkansas and studied infectious diseases and food safety at Alabama A&M University.
Though not originally from Alabama, Westbrook quickly immersed himself in the Birmingham community.
He was a familiar face at the Sidewalk Film Festival and supported art in all its forms.
He frequented Back Forty Beer Company, The Nick, Bottletree Café and Saturn, just to name a few of his favorite haunts. He was a big fan of Star Wars, Marvel films, and Taylor Swift.
Westbrook loved getting ice cream, and cat sitting for his friends when they went out of town.
Copus said Crime Stoppers continually tries to come up with new ways to connect with potential witnesses, and the mailers are one of those ideas.
They also plan to send out one in the Bessemer area near where Ricky Hamrick III, 39, was shot July 24 during a gun deal brokered on Facebook Marketplace. His 8-year-old daughter, visiting him for the summer, was in the front seat with him when he was killed.
Hamrick’s family has announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.
“I know everybody probably gets tired of seeing mailers,’’ Copus said. “We’ll do it when we think there is organic information in the community.”
“We think there are people who probably know who these suspects are or have a good idea or could give us some idea of who they might be. This is just a way to encourage the public,’’ Copus said.
“The people who keep the communities safe are the people who live there,’’ he said.
Tipsters to Crime Stoppers are anonymous an eligible for a cash reward. Anyone with information is asked to call 205-254-7777.
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