On the night of August 25, 2021, Kelvin Devose, 47, walked into the Smart Food Mart in Ensley on the 900 block of 20th Street in Birmingham. Just before 10:00 p.m., a verbal confrontation inside or at the store’s entrance escalated to gunfire; officers found Devose on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head and Birmingham Fire and Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police described the shooting as the result of an argument between two people rather than a random act. The gunman ran from the store and was last seen heading north toward Avenue I. Investigators later presented evidence to prosecutors and a murder warrant was issued. In early October 2021, Birmingham police arrested Marquise Terell Taylor on a murder charge related to the Smart Food Mart shooting; jail records listed Taylor as a pretrial inmate with a $100,000 bond.

Services were announced by Devose’s family. Does anyone who was in the area that night or who knew Kelvin have information that could help clarify what sparked the confrontation?