Jessie Alan Merchant Birt, 24, was shot and killed on Monday, October 12, 2020, in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a senior in the mechanical engineering program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one semester from graduation, with an interest in thermodynamics. His family later established the Jesse Marchant Birt Memorial Scholarship at UAB.

Friends and family remembered him as compassionate, committed to social justice, and devoted to animals and the environment. Police have not released a motive or the full circumstances; there has been public speculation that his death may have been linked to intervening on behalf of a stray animal, but officials have not confirmed that. The Birmingham Police Department is investigating, and no arrests or suspects have been publicly announced.

If anyone saw Jessie in the apartment complex parking area on October 12, 2020, or has information about what happened, please come forward.