On the evening of September 17, 2021, in Birmingham, Alabama, 28-year-old Ashley Canty was driving along Norwood Boulevard when she was struck by a gunshot. The impact caused her to lose control of the vehicle, which then hit a fire hydrant in the 2800 block of the boulevard. Officers who arrived at the scene of what at first looked like a single-vehicle crash found Canty unresponsive in the driver’s seat; a community member told police she had been shot.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue transported Canty to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. She remained in critical condition for a week and died on September 24, 2021; the death was recorded as Birmingham’s 73rd homicide that year. Detectives said Canty appeared to have been specifically targeted, but a clear motive had not been determined and no arrests had been announced. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers.