Suspect in 6 Birmingham homicides makes first appearance in court

The suspect accused of killing six people in Birmingham in 72 hours, including four people in the mass shooting outside Hush lounge in Five Points South, made his first court appearance Thursday to hear the charges against him.

Damien Laron McDaniel III, of Fairfield, is charged with capital murder of two or more people in the massacre that killed four people on Sept. 21 and with 17 counts of first-degree assault for those who were injured.

Killed were Carlos McCain, 27, Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, Anitra Holloman, 21, and Tahj Booker, 27. Seventeen others – believed to be innocent bystanders – suffered wounds ranging from superficial to critical.

Police say multiple gunmen unleashed more than 100 rounds – including automatic gunfire – on a long line of people waiting to get into Hush. Investigators quickly said that they believed the barrage of gunfire was a "hit" – a murder-for-hire targeting at least one of the men killed in the shooting.

McDaniel is also charged with murder in the Sept. 19 killing of Diontranet Tinae Brown, a 35-year-old mother who police say was an innocent bystander shot to death inside 604 Bar and Lounge on Ninth Street North.

He faces an additional capital murder charge in the robbery shooting death of 32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre, who died in a hail of gunfire in the 700 block of 81st Place South less than 24 hours after the Five Points South shooting.

Additionally, McDaniel is charged with three counts of attempted murder in the Sept. 22 shooting that not only killed McIntyre but left two others wounded.

Police say all three homicide cases are linked but they have not publicly disclosed what connected the deaths.

Three other people have also been charged with capital murder in McIntyre's slaying – Ny'Quan Cordae Lollar, 22, Larry Denzel Rollins, Jr., 31, and Demarco Nakia Beck Jr., 29.

Charging documents state McIntyre was killed while he was being robbed of a backpack and its contents.

McDaniel appeared before Jefferson County District Judge Maria Fortune for his first call, which is when the charges are formally read to him.

There appeared to be no family members of McDaniel or any of his alleged victims in Thursday's hearing.

Fortune appointed criminal defense attorneys Bret Gray and David Michaels to represent McDaniel until if, and when, he decides to retain his own lawyer.

Deputy District Attorney Shawn Allen said prosecutors are not requesting an Aniah's Law bond hearing for McDaniel in Brown's shooting death since he has no bond set on the capital cases, and is already facing a potential probation revocation on two attempted murder convictions from last year.

In Brown's killing, which happened at the 604 Lounge in Birmingham two nights before the mass shooting, Allen said prosecutors contend McDaniel shot into the lounge from the outside, killing Brown.

Birmingham police have said Brown was an innocent bystander.

Allen said there could have been at least one other shooter at the 604 Lounge slaying, but no one else has yet been charged.

Aside from the no bond on the two capital murder charges against McDaniel, Fortune set his bond in Brown's death at $1 million.

Fortune set McDaniel's bond in the 17 first-degree assault case for the Hush shooting at a total of $510,000, which is $30,000 for each of the 17 felony counts.

The suspect's bond in the three attempted murder warrants in connection with the Sept. 22 shooting in East Lake is set at $180,000 which $60,000 each for the three charges.

Fortune ordered McDaniel to have no contact with any of his alleged victims or family members either directly, through social media or third parties.

According to court documents, McDaniel pleaded guilty on April 26, 2023, to two counts of attempted murder in a 2021 shooting in Fairfield. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with two years to serve followed by three years of probation.

Last week, Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff Chief Assistant District Attorney Lane Tolbert filed a motion to revoke McDaniel's probation.

Tolbert said that between April 1, 2024, through Oct. 1, 2024, McDaniel was recorded on social media brandishing firearms at least nine times.

Prosecutors said McDaniel is in violation of his probation by engaging in "injurious and vicious habits."

McDaniel also violated probation terms of avoiding persons and places of disreputable conditions and character, and by being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.

Bessemer Cutoff Circuit Judge David Carpenter issued a warrant on the revocation charge and has set a hearing for Nov. 13. McDaniel is also facing charges of unlawful possession of marijuana and being a felon in possession of a firearm.