[0:03]Anitra was the person that held our family together. It has been a big difference now her being gone. She was an amazing girl, she was like my everything. On September 21st, Canan's Camp's 21-year-old daughter left home for an alumni picnic with friends.
[0:23]When news of the mass shooting in Five Points South spread on social media, Camp grew worried. I started calling her phone and it was going it was just ringing. She raced to the hospital, then back to the scene, searching for answers. That's when like the officer had told me, pulled me to the side and told me that my daughter was one of the victims and I just feel like a part of me left that night. Anitra, the mother of a one-year-old girl, was among the four people killed that night. And I know in my heart that my daughter was not targeted, I know that they weren't targeting her. But this is just the senseless of not caring about others around you that makes it not fair and it still has me angry. Nearly a month later, the Birmingham Police Department announced an arrest in that case, 22-year-old Damien McDaniel. The amount of violent that violent acts that he's associated with is unprecedented. The Jefferson County District Attorney's office is prosecuting eight separate cases against McDaniel, totaling 14 homicides in the span of 14 months. In your experience, have you ever seen a case where one individual is charged in this many homicides? You know, um, I have not. He has entered a plea of not guilty and he maintains a plea of not not guilty. On July 12th, 2023, two on-duty Birmingham firefighters were shot while working at Station 9. Jordan Melton died a few days later. Jamal Jones, who was critically injured, survived. Damien McDaniel and Eddie Jones were both charged in that case. obviously killing a firefighter on a line of duty is a capital charge and as a result of that he was charged with that um as well along with the um the charge relative to um the other five fire as well that did not die fortunately. Court documents allege Melton was intentionally targeted because he had been subpoenaed to testify in a murder trial against Larry Rollins, who also happens to be charged in a separate homicide connected to McDaniel. On January 10th, 2024, 21-year-old Mia Nickson was shot in the driveway of her family's East Birmingham home. McDaniel is the sole person charged in this case. McDaniel is also charged alongside Charles Derius Nance in the death of UPS worker Anthony Love Jr. in an alleged murder for hire plots. Love was gunned down in the parking lot when leaving work on April 9th, 2024. Is anyone like to be accused of murder? He has he has not guilty, he has entered a plea of not guilty, and he stands on that plea of not not guilty. I mean, I understand what the prosecution is claiming these are murder for hires, but again, there's not been any evidence presented in court to support those allegations, and they are simply allegations at this point. On July 13th, 2024, gunfire erupted at Trendsetters Lounge where a birthday party was being held. Lerandus Anderson, Stevie McGhee, Markeisha Gettings, and Angela Weatherspoon were all killed. Ten others were injured. McDaniel and Hatarius Woods were both charged. A month later, on August 13th, 61-year-old Harley Herbert Moore was killed inside his apartment. McDaniel, Woods, and Nance all charged in connection to that case. On September 19th, McDaniel is accused of killing 35-year-old Diontranet Tinae Brown, an innocent bystander who was inside 604 Bar. Two days later, on September 21st, a mass shooting in Birmingham's Five Points South. Carlos McCain, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., Anitra Holloman, and Tajh Booker were all killed outside Hush Lounge. Seventeen others were injured. Again, McDaniel was charged, along with Nyquan Lollar and Crishawn McLemore Bruce. Why do they do that there at a night like that? They knew that people were going to be out celebrate, that was just senseless and cold-hearted. They don't care about nobody life, they don't care about nobody life, they don't. Less than 24 hours later, police were investigating the robbery shooting death of Jamarcus Desean McIntyre in the 700 block of 81st Street South. McDaniel, Lollar, McLemore-Bruce, in addition to Larry Rollins, Demarco Beck Jr., and Zachary Holmes, all charged. The common thread through every case, McDaniel's alleged involvement. The thing that kind of separates us out is that it wasn't it wasn't simply in one location, you've got multiple events on multiple dates. Uh, and again that goes to a level of of uh of violence and I think kind of a disregard uh for safety that I in my experience I don't recall ever encountering. According to authorities, some of these killings could be murder for hire, raising questions about McDaniel's connections. if what they're saying is true, uh that this is something that has been sanctioned by someone else, you have to then begin to think, well, what were his uh his underworld connections relative to the streets in Birmingham. You know, who knows this guy because that goes to a bigger picture. You know, who's out there that would put money for to say, I want you to go out and it doesn't matter how many people are harmed. I want you to decimate these people. And while court documents lay out a trail of alleged violence, McDaniel himself spoke in a YouTube documentary produced by an international filmmaker, offering a window into his mindset. They gonna do the same thing to you, so why not do it to them? Why show them comparison when they ain't gonna show your no comparison? With so many cases, so many victims, the investigation into McDaniel is massive. JSU's distinguished scholar of forensic investigations, Joseph Scott Morgan, says firearms evidence alone plays a crucial role. if there is a particular type of handgun or semi-automatic weapon that they're utilizing, you're looking for them to utilize that over and over again, and so that's the thread that connects this. Investigators continue to work to piece together the evidence. This investigation is still ongoing. Um it doesn't stop just because we're in court, it doesn't stop when a person is charged, it doesn't stop when a person is indicted. Meanwhile, there's a push in Montgomery to speed up the legal process. We want to make sure that there can be a priority on our violent cases and that we have the resources through prosecutors to be able to do it. The Speedy Trial Act aims to expedite trials, reduce court backlogs, and ensure swift justice. I think that is not only what a defendant has a constitutional right to be able to demand, but it's also equally important that victims understand that they're not waiting four, five, and six years for their cases to be heard. Right now, McDaniel sits in Kilby Correctional Facility after his probation was revoked for a 2019 shooting in Fairfield. In February, a judge denied McDaniel's request to transfer to the Jefferson County jail while awaiting trial. No trial date has been set for his Birmingham cases. We are a long way from this these cases being tried in court. There's a there's a lot of ground to cover. There's a lot of things to do on both sides. Do you know how soon that could take for the first case to be in front of a jury? That is the magic question uh that no one has an answer for right now. Um there are a lot of things that have to happen behind the scenes. And while nothing can bring the victims back, their families hold onto hope. I pray to God every day for justice for my daughter. In Birmingham, Valerie Bell, ABC 3340 News.
