Kirby Lashon Tate Jr. was 19 when he was shot to death outside a residence in the 300 block of Norwood Avenue in Bessemer, Alabama, on Saturday afternoon, February 3, 2024. Bessemer police received a call about a person shot at about 12:48 p.m.; officers found Tate and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Known to family as Drakko, he was born in Birmingham on August 11, 2004, and lived in Bessemer. His family remembered his close bond with his mother, Lashonda Tate, and his brothers, Noah Johnson and Tyrell Crayton, and said he enjoyed playing cards with his mother, football, hot wings and pizza. The Bessemer Police Department opened a homicide investigation; no motive or suspects have been publicly released and no arrest has been announced.

Anyone who knew Kirby, was in the Norwood Avenue area that afternoon, or has information that could help the investigation is asked to come forward.