Rasheem Emark Sledge, 42, was shot in the early morning hours of September 1, 2019, after violence broke out inside BadBoyz Entertainment Center on Bessemer Road in Birmingham. Officers were dispatched about 2:13 a.m.; when they arrived they found Sledge unresponsive on the floor with a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue took him to UAB Hospital, but he did not survive.

Police and later reporting described the shooting as the deadly end of a personal dispute rather than a random nightclub killing. Investigators said the incident stemmed from a domestic altercation between Sledge and his girlfriend. In the chaos a security guard was also shot in the arm; that wound was reported as non-life-threatening. A second security guard detained the girlfriend at the scene and she was turned over to homicide investigators.

Investigators presented evidence to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, which later ruled the shooting justifiable. No murder charge, prosecution, or conviction has been reported. Funeral services were scheduled in Birmingham less than a week after the death.

If anyone was at BadBoyz Entertainment Center that night or knew Rasheem Sledge and can help fill in what happened, please share what is known.