Four arrests have been made in connection with an incident that saw a 21-year-old Alabama mother murdered in a hail of gunfire.
Birmingham police estimate that 168 shots were fired at the Monarch Ridge apartment building around 10 p.m. local time on Aug. 20.
When police arrived at the scene, Asia Alyce Poole was “lying on the ground unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound,” according to a statement from the Birmingham Police Department.
Though cameras line the apartment building, they were not feeding into the police’s Real Time Crime Center as they were supposed to, Police Chief Scott Thurman said at a press conference shared on Facebook last week.
Since the shooting, police have pieced together footage from the complex, along with social media video collected from bystanders, according to the chief.
In a compilation of social media videosobtained by local outlet AL.com, two people – one referred to by a voice off camera as “Ja’Niyah” – can be seen fighting on the hood of a car.
The fight moves toward the apartment complex where others mill about. Then, the edited video goes dark as bullets ring out, ending with footage from a phone pointed up to an outside staircase with gunfire popping.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald said that Facebook live videos – capturing both the shooting and a fight at the apartment complex “that escalated to shots being fired” – played “a major role” in the investigation leading to the four arrests.
Aacoreyah Denae Woods.
Jefferson County Jail
On Aug. 27, police booked Aacoreyah Denae Woods, 20, into Jefferson County Jail, according to her online inmate roster. She is charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of discharge of a firearm into an occupied dwelling or vehicle– once from the date of the murder and one from the morning of her booking, according to those arrest records.
Justin Hendrix, 20, and Taylor McCloud, 22, are each charged with intentional murder and attempted murder, according to Cindy Collins, supervisor of the criminal division of Jefferson County Circuit Court. They are both held at Jefferson County Jail without bond, per police.
Hendrix is slated for a hearing on the afternoon of Aug. 28 to determine if he qualifies for bond based on the violence of the crimes he is charged with, his lawyer, Scott Boudreaux, tells PEOPLE.
Ja’Niyah Hendrix, 19 – who allegedly fought with Poole prior to her death and is accused of driving off with Poole’s car around the time of the shooting – is charged with auto theft and currently being held at Jefferson County Jail on $30,000 bond, per police. Poole’s unoccupied vehicle was “quickly recovered” a 3-minute drive from the crime scene.
Police have suggested that the motive of the killing may have been connected to the “physical altercation,” saying that “once the individuals were separated, shots were fired.”
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Services pronounced Poole dead at the scene, per police.
A second person – identified only as a male by the police chief – was wounded by gunfire and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. He is not considered a suspect.
Boudreaux said that the man, who was shot in the leg, was Poole’s best friend and likely a pivotal witness in the case.
Justin Hendrix.
Birmingham Police Department
Justin Hendrix appeared in court Aug. 27, where he was assigned his lawyer, according to Boudreaux, who said he had not yet met his client as of Wednesday morning but was not aware of any criminal history.
McCloud also appeared in court Tuesday, although Collins could not confirm details of the proceeding and no lawyer was yet listed for him.
Calling the case “a big mess,” Boudreaux said there were “a lot of people involved” in the shooting.
“With 160 some bullets being fired, there was obviously a lot of shooting going on and no telling how many shooters,” Boudreaux noted. “So it will be interesting to see how they claim how Justin was involved and how other people were involved.”
Boudreaux said he was looking into speculation that Poole had accidentally been shot by someone intending to fire at the other group, adding he was uncertain what ballistics would be able to ascertain.
It was not clear if McCloud and Woods would join Justin Hendrix for the 1:30 p.m. hearing on Aug. 28 to determine if bond would be set.
The courts had no pleas recorded for any of the four arrested. Furthermore, no other lawyers had been assigned to the case, according to Collins, who as of Aug. 28 only had upcoming court dates slated for Ja’Niyah Hendrix on Sept. 16 at 9 a.m., and Justin Hendrix, whose preliminary hearing is slated for Oct. 2 at 10 a.m.
As of Wednesday morning, the courts only had a June arrest connected to drug possession charges on file for Woods. Rachel Smith was contacted , Woods’s public defender assigned to the drug possession case, but she did not return the call in time for publication.
The Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office did not have another case for Woods yet on the books, the office confirmed on Aug. 28.
“We can never bring her back unfortunately but this is a step in the right direction,” Thurman said of the initial arrests during the press conference, adding, “We’ll continue to investigate until we can find everyone involved.”
Fitzgerald said that “Detectives are still actively working to determine if more suspects were involved.”
