In the early morning of May 21, 2023, 23-year-old Roberto Juarez Ramos of Blountsville was found dead in the Cullman City Parking Deck after officers responded to a shooting at about 2:40 a.m. Witnesses — between eight and ten people — identified 20-year-old Christopher Dean Eugene Brown of Empire as the shooter, and that identification was later corroborated by parking-deck security camera footage. Investigators say the shooting appears to have been an impulsive act arising from a dispute over money; Ramos and Brown reportedly had no prior relationship beyond mutual acquaintances.

A multi-agency manhunt led to Brown’s arrest at his home in Empire hours later; he was charged with murder and held without bond. The Cullman Police Department noted the parking deck had been a known gathering spot and that officers had been trying to disperse crowds there in the weeks before the shooting. If anyone witnessed the incident or has information about activity at the parking deck that night, please share what is known.