In Memory

Juzharis Webb - Class Of 2018

Authorities have identified a Birmingham high school senior shot to death on his way home from school Tuesday afternoon.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Juzahris Webb. He was 17.

At least two people are in custody and being questioned after they were spotted in a stolen vehicle matching the description of the vehicle used in the shooting. Birmingham police, with the help of tracking dogs, spent three hours searching for them Tuesday night after they bailed from the vehicle, which rolled back and hit a police cruiser. Their names and ages have not been released, and police said they had not yet confirmed whether they were involved in the slaying.

The shooting happened just before 4 pm in the 3200 block of Cedar Avenue Southwest, just out of eyesight of Wenohah High School, where Webb was a student. Police said Webb and his friend were near an intersection when a car approached them and someone inside opened fire. Webb was shot in the stomach.

After the shooting, the two teens ran back to the nearby Coleman Auto Parts and Sales. The victim collapsed on the floor just behind the counter, telling shop employees, "Somebody shot me. Call the police."

 

Birmingham teen killed in shooting while walking home

Birmingham teen killed in shooting while walking home

The 17-year-old boy was walking home from school with a friend when a car pulled up and opened fire. The victim was rushed to UAB Hospital but died en route.

 

Employees said the victim wasn't bleeding externally, but began to drift into unconsciousness. "He was very alert,'' said an employee who asked not to be named. "But the longer he sat there, he just started to go."

Webb's friend wasn't injured, but was visibly shaken at the scene. He was taken to police headquarters for questioning. Edwards said there were other witnesses in the area. "We want to protect their ages and faces because of their age, but our detectives are talking to them to try to get to the bottom of it."

Detectives were also canvassing the area, and trying to determine whether the shooting was caught on surveillance video. The business in the area had multiple cameras, and signs warning of ongoing video surveillance.

Dozens of Webb's friends reacted online to his death within hours after the Tuesday shooting.

"I Can't believe this i Just Cant believe he gone mannn I can't believe this omg im in tears right now bruhh this boy was happy funny and everything,'' wrote one friend.

Another wrote, "It's too many good people dying rest easy man."

And this: "Man this just can't be real I was just talking to my friend today & now he gone?"

Webb was Birmingham's fifth homicide victim of 2017. Within an hour of the teen's killing, another man was shot and killed across town in the city's Gate City community becoming the city's sixth homicide. Birmingham ended 2016 with 104 slayings.

In all of Jefferson County, there have been eight homicides this year, six of them in Birmingham. Of those, so far, one has been ruled justifiable.

The other Jefferson County homicides happened in Bessemer and Fairfield.  In Fairfield, that victim also was a student. On Jan. 18, Fairfield Preparatory High School sophomore Tyron Bennett was shot to death in his neighborhood when he and a friend were walking to school.

Edwards said Webb had only been out of school 20 or 25 minutes. "One homicide is too many but we're talking about a young person,'' Edwards said. "There so many other things that young people want to do.

"My heart goes out to their family right now,'' he said. "We're doing everything we possibly can."

In an online profile, Webb described himself as "the most happiest person you will ever meet in your life."  He said he wanted to be a firefighter after graduating Wenonah. "I want to be a firefighter after I graduate high school because it would make feel wonderful to know that I have saved someone's life or house or anything that caught fire that belongs to them."

Birmingham City Schools Interim Superintendent Larry Contri issued this statement Tuesday night: "We were deeply saddened after being notified today that a Wenonah High School student was shot after school while walking along Cedar Avenue. He later succumbed to his injuries at University Hospital.

The Birmingham Board of Education, its employees and Wenonah High School extend heartfelt sympathy to the student's family, friends and classmates. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

Contri said grief counselors will be available at Wenonah High School on Wednesday to work with students and staff."

Anyone with information on either of the Birmingham homicides on Tuesday is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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