A 24-year-old man was acquitted Friday afternoon of capital murder in the 2019 slaying of the brother of an NFL football player.
A Jefferson County jury, after two days of deliberation, decided Darrius Frazier fired in self-defense when he killed 27-year-old Gjamal Antonio Rodriguez and wounded Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Dedria Johnson, more than two years ago.
..
The deadly shooing happened about 7:15 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 102 Shawnee Lane on the city’s east side. According to trial testimony, Frazier and Rodriquez were dating sisters who lived at the home there.
..
Rodriguez’s girlfriend, got into some kind of disagreement with Frazier and she warned Frazier that she was going to get Rodriguez involved.
..
On Oct. 26, 2019, testimony showed, Rodriguez fired six shots into Frazier’s home, at which time Frazier returned fire. No one was injured in that incident.
Rodriguez reportedly vowed to shoot at Frazier every time he saw him.
..
The following night, according to testimony and closing statements from the lawyers, Frazier was at his girlfriend’s Shawnee Lane home. The two shared a child.
As he was leaving the home, Rodriguez was parked out front with his girlfriend in the passenger’s seat.
Hebson, in her closing statements, said Frazier immediately went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a “big gun,” which was a rifle.
..
Frazier started the altercation and that he fired 16 shots into Rodriguez’s vehicle. Rodriquez was struck eight times and later pronounced dead.
His girlfriend, Johnson, was also struck several times but survived.
..
Anthony said Rodriguez was raging mad, and that Frazier only fired when he thought Rodriguez was reaching under his seat for a gun. A gun was not recovered from Rodriguez’s vehicle.
https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2022/01/man-acquitted-of-capital-murder-in-birmingham-shooting-that-killed-brother-of-nfl-lineman.html