Father and son gunned down at Birmingham gas stations almost 5 years apart

A 25-year-old man was shot and killed at a Birmingham gas station nearly five years after his father was also similarly gunned down at a different gas station in the same city. According to Birmingham Real-Time News, the fatal incident occurred at Circle K on Tallapoosa Street on Sunday.

The deceased, identified as Demetrius Antwan Davis Jr., was pumping gas into his car when a gunman approached him and opened fire, police said, adding that his killing was in retaliation for an initial incident where the suspect’s family member was shot.

The gunman, identified as 51-year-old Byron Dedric Steele, has since been arrested and charged with capital murder. Police said they responded to the scene after they received a report about a shooting, but the victim was pronounced dead on the scene. 

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“From the evidence on the scene, it would appear that the victim did return fire,” Officer Truman Fitzgerald said. “It was not random,’’ he added. “From the evidence our detectives have gathered, it would appear our victim was ambushed.”

Davis Jr. was a former football player at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). His father, Demetrius Davis Sr., also met a similar fate after he was gunned down at a different Birmingham gas station in 2018. That fatal incident also occurred on a Sunday, Birmingham Real-Time News reported.

Though police said both killings were targeted, arrests in connection with the 2018 shooting death of Davis Sr. are yet to be made. The younger Davis’ killing added up to eight homicide incidents that were recorded in Birmingham in eight days. 

“This is to bring no shame to our victims from Sunday, but since Sunday, our detectives have uncovered that the victims in each homicide case have been involved in some type of activity prior to the homicide which contributed heavily to their death,’’ Fitzgerald said. 

“And that’s not to victim shame,’’ he added. “We want to get the message out to the public that we have to be really mindful of our behavior because we have seen just the lengths people will go to target you if they have something out for you.”