Joshua Isiaha Carpenter, 26, was fatally shot in the early evening of Monday, February 21, 2022, in an apartment complex on the 1700 block of 33rd Street North in north Birmingham. Police responded to calls of gunfire just after 7 p.m. and found Carpenter with fatal gunshot wounds. Initial reports say no one was immediately in custody and authorities asked the public to contact the homicide unit with information. Motive and the events leading up to the shooting were not clear in the immediate aftermath and the investigation was described as ongoing.

The shooting came nearly nine months after the family had already suffered another loss: Joshua’s brother, Brandon Carpenter, was killed in a separate shooting. Court records from 2017 show Joshua had faced capital murder and attempted murder charges in an unrelated case involving the death of a two-year-old; a Jefferson County Circuit Judge later dismissed those charges after the District Attorney’s office said there was no credible evidence to continue prosecution.

Anyone with information about Joshua Carpenter’s death is asked to contact the Birmingham Police homicide unit.