On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, a verbal dispute in the parking lot at 900 20th Street in the Ensley community of Birmingham escalated into gunfire. Police found 25-year-old Quintez Deshawn Ladd unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound just before 4:30 p.m. He was taken to UAB Hospital and died later that evening.

Investigators say Ladd and another adult man exchanged gunfire during the altercation. The other man suffered non-life-threatening wounds and was transported to a hospital by a private vehicle. After reviewing the evidence, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office concluded the shooting was justifiable because both men were armed and engaged in the shootout, and no criminal charges were filed in connection with the incident. Ladd’s death was counted among the city’s homicide total for the year.

If anyone witnessed the confrontation in the 900 block of 20th Street that afternoon or has information about what led to the exchange of gunfire, please share what is known.