5 killed in Birmingham in 7 days; Authorities release names of 2 recent victims
Updated Feb 08, 2021;
Facebook Share
Authorities have released the names of two men killed in separate homicides in Birmingham in recent days.
One of the homicides happened Thursday, Feb. 4, and the other on Sunday, Feb. 7. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as Edward Dee Stewart III, 33, of Pinson, and Ladarius Bloxom, 30, of Birmingham.
They are two of five homicides that have taken place in the city in just seven days. A 75-year-old woman, Eula Mae Moore, was killed in her home on Feb. 1. The manner of death of her adult son, who was found dead at the same time, has not yet been released.
1 killed in early-morning shooting in Birmingham’s Pratt City
Updated Feb 06, 2021;
Facebook Share
Police identified the victim as Carlos Mines. He was 26.
The shooting happened about 4:45 a.m. Saturday on Avenue W at Dugan Avenue in front of Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Station 18. Authorities said the victim was in a vehicle when someone opened fire on the sedan.
The vehicle crashed near a utility pole and some bushes. Mines was pronounced dead in the vehicle by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. Word of the killing quickly spread and dozens of friends and family members arrived to the crime scene.
Fran Brownell
Pratt Tribune
Pratt City Commissioner Gary Schmidt will continue to serve as mayor of Pratt for 2021 with commissioner Don Peters taking office as vice-mayor, their appointments unanimously approved at the January 11 regular meeting at City Hall. Newly-elected commissioners Jeannette Siemens and Kyle Farmer were installed at the same meeting after taking the Oath of Office administered by City Clerk LuAnn Kramer.
Pratt City Manager Bruce Pinkall commended outgoing commissioners Doug Meyer and Jason Leslie for their service, presenting Meyer with a ‘Key to the City’ and Leslie with a desk plaque.
Meyer was not eligible to seek reelection because of Pratt city’s two-term limit provision and Leslie had announced prior to the election that he had opted not to seek a second term.
By Sydney Melson
There are no glass ceilings in the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Department (BFRS).
In 2020, three females were promoted to the rank of captain Nina Taylor, Sarah Johnson, and Florence Bradley all attained the rank of captain in the department, which has more than 600 employees.
“These three women were all selected for captain because of their abilities to lead,” said BFRS Chief Cory Moon. “What these selections prove is that women don’t have that glass ceiling that has been assumed. It shows that females can lead just like males.”
Over 150 years, BFRS had only had two female captains.
By Sydney Melson
The Birmingham Times
Sarah Johnson, a native of Adamsville, Alabama, was hired on Dec. 28, 2004. The first female safety officer for the department, her interest in the fire department started with family, as well.
“I have a brother who retired as a BFRS battalion chief [in May 2019]. … He always talked about how it was the best job in the world, and he couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” she recalled. “I got to a point in my life where I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so I decided to give it a shot.”
Johnson, who attended Columbia Southern University in Orange Beach, Alabama, in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in occupational health and safety, worked hard to learn as much as she could about the BFRS.