On September 3, 2022, in Birmingham’s 4200 block of Inglenook Street, 32-year-old Rodriquez Dreke Powell was killed in a daylight drive-by shooting while seated in a parked Ford Mustang. Around 1:45 p.m., a small sedan reportedly drove past and an occupant fired more than twenty rounds into the car. Powell was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene after barely making it out of the passenger seat onto the roadway.

Powell, known to family as Dreke, had just finished a shift at Brother’s Recycling and had been to the mall with his cousin, 35-year-old Justin Jarell Taylor, who was driving. Taylor was also shot and taken to UAB Hospital, where he later died. The double killing was recorded as Birmingham’s 99th and 100th homicides of the year. Powell was the third of his mother Theta Johnson’s sons to be killed by violence in the city.

No arrests had been announced and the Birmingham Police Department was seeking tips. If anyone has information that could help identify those responsible, please come forward.