On the evening of January 10, 2026, 18-year-old Pleasant Grove High School senior Brandon McNeal Campbell was fatally shot while riding in a car on Tuscaloosa Avenue in Birmingham. Campbell’s friend, 17-year-old Sam Slaughter, was also shot multiple times but survived and was taken to a local hospital. Authorities say the pair were targeted in what is believed to have been a robbery; Campbell drove a short distance seeking help before the vehicle crashed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends and school officials remembered Campbell as quiet, well-mannered, and full of life; the school later held a balloon release in his honor. The Birmingham Police Department announced arrests in the case: 27-year-old Algie Eugene Surrell Jr, 19-year-old Kavari Wells, 22-year-old Ricco Wells, and two 17-year-old juveniles. Charges include capital murder, attempted murder, and felony murder, and all five suspects were being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail.

Does anyone have information about the shooting or knew Brandon and his friend that could help investigators?