Four people have been arrested in connection with the death of a 21-year-old Alabama mother in a hail of gunshots.
Birmingham police estimate that 168 rounds were fired at the Monarch Ridge apartment complex at about 10 p.m. local time on August 20th.
When authorities arrived, Asia Alyce Poole was “lying on the ground unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound,” according to a Birmingham authorities Department statement.
Though cameras were installed around the apartment complex, they were not streaming into the police’s Real Time Crime Center as intended, according to Police Chief Scott Thurman, who stated at a press conference published on Facebook last week.
According to the chief, police have gathered footage from the complex as well as social media video from onlookers since the incident.
A collection of social media footage obtained by local outlet AL.com shows two persons fighting on the hood of a car, one of whom is referred to as “Ja’Niyah” by an off-camera speaker.
The brawl goes to the apartment complex, where others mill about. The edited video then fades to black as bullets ring out, followed by footage from a phone pointed up to an exterior stairway with gunfire popping.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald tells PEOPLE that Facebook live recordings of the shooting and a confrontation at the apartment complex “that escalated to shots being fired” played “a major role” in the investigation that resulted in the four arrests.
According to the Jefferson County Jail’s online inmate register, Aacoreyah Denae Woods, 20, was booked on August 27. According to the arrest papers, she is charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied home or vehicle–one from the date of the murder and one from the morning of her detention.
According to Cindy Collins, superintendent of the Jefferson County Circuit Court’s criminal division, Justin Hendrix, 20, and Taylor McCloud, 22, have been charged with intentional murder and attempted murder. According to authorities, they are both being held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
Hendrix’s lawyer, Scott Boudreaux, tells PEOPLE that the client will have a hearing on the afternoon of August 28 to decide whether he qualifies for bond based on the seriousness of the offenses he is charged with.
Ja’Niyah Hendrix, 19, who allegedly fought with Poole before her death and is accused of driving away with Poole’s car around the time of the shooting, is charged with auto theft and is being held in Jefferson County Jail on a $30,000 bond, according to police. Poole’s unoccupied vehicle was “quickly recovered” around a three-minute drive from the murder scene.
According to police, the homicide may have been motivated by a “physical altercation,” as “once the individuals were separated, shots were fired.”
According to police, Poole was pronounced deceased on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Services.
A second individual, named only as a guy by the police chief, was injured by a gunshot and sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He is not considered a suspect.
Boudreaux tells PEOPLE that the man shot in the leg was Poole’s best buddy and most likely a key witness in the case.
Justin Hendrix appeared in court on August 27 and was assigned a lawyer, according to Boudreaux, who stated that he had not yet spoken with his client as of Wednesday morning but was unaware of any criminal background.
McCloud also appeared in court on Tuesday, however, Collins was unable to confirm the circumstances of the case, and no representation was named for him.
Boudreaux described the case as “a big mess,” claiming “a lot of people were involved” in the shooting.
“With 160 some bullets being fired, there was a lot of shooting going on and no telling how many shooters,” according to Boudreaux. “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 the possibility that Poole was accidentally shot by someone who intended to shoot at the other group, but he wasn’t sure what ballistics would reveal.
It was unclear whether McCloud and Woods would accompany Justin Hendrix to the 1:30 p.m. hearing on Aug. 28 to see if a bond would be set.
None of the four arrested entered a plea in court. Furthermore, no other counsel had been appointed to the case, according to Collins, who as of Aug. 28 only had scheduled court appearances for Ja’Niyah Hendrix on Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. and Justin Hendrix on Oct. 2 at 10 a.m.
As of Wednesday morning, Woods’ only arrest for narcotics possession was from June. PEOPLE contacted Rachel Smith, Woods’ public defender assigned to the drug possession case, but she did not return our call in time for publication.
On August 28, the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE that no more cases for Woods were currently on the books.
“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 find everyone involved.”
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