Again in July 2024, a small household was gunned down in a mindless act of violence. As life was leaving the younger mom, she didn’t dial 911. As a substitute, she despatched a vital textual content message that helped the police start fixing her alleged homicide.
On Thursday, April 17, a listening to for the taking pictures suspect confirmed the main points of what occurred the night time of July 13, 2024. Birmingham police say that night, they obtained a report of a automotive wreck. Nevertheless, after they arrived on the scene, police mentioned they discovered a blue Nissan Maxima parked partially on the curb by the park entrance. Authorities say the automotive was riddled with bullets and sadly, had three victims inside.
Within the entrance seat, Det. Jarvelius Tolliver testified that he discovered 28-year-old Arkia “Kia” Berry and her boyfriend, Eric Ashley Jr., per AL.com. Within the again behind the motive force’s seat, Tolliver acknowledged he discovered Berry’s 5-year-old son Landyn Brooks. The detective mentioned Berry’s physique gave the impression to be mendacity throughout the middle console — nearly as if she was making an attempt to guard her baby from the hail of gunfire.
The detective mentioned 20 to 30 shell casings had been recovered from the scene with Ashley’s aspect of the automotive sustaining the vast majority of the gunfire, per the report. Upon investigation, police additionally recovered the couple’s cellphones and close by house surveillance footage which put collectively a chilling timeline of the occasions.
At 5:07 p.m., a lime inexperienced Kia Soul entered the neighborhood.
At 5:08 p.m., Berry’s Nissan additionally drove onto the block.
Two minutes later, Det. Tolliver mentioned the Kia fled at a excessive pace and Berry’s automotive crashed on the sidewalk. Nevertheless, the minute after Berry’s arrival and presumably in the course of the gunfire, she despatched one final textual content message: “Jaco.”
In her boyfriend’s cellphone, police discovered a contact labeled “Jaco” which belonged to 25-year-old Jacorrian McGregor. From social media, the person appeared to make use of the nickname “Jac” or “Jaco,” per police. A search of his cellphone got here up quick as a lot of his messages had been deleted. Nevertheless, Det. Tolliver mentioned most of the remaining messages despatched to him suggested him to “lay low” or “keep hidden.” He wasn’t arrested till February 2025 after the district lawyer’s workplace deferred issuing the warrant final 12 months.
Regardless of the protection’s argument that the case was constructed of circumstantial proof and that Berry’s final message didn’t indicate McGregor was the shooter, the decide discovered possible trigger to cost him with capital homicide within the three deaths, per ABC’s WBMA. He’ll stay in jail till the case proceeds with the grand jury.