A funeral repass turned deadly on Friday, December 13, 2024, when 38-year-old Roderick Hall of Midfield, also known as Brick, was shot and killed outside the Brighton Community Center near Bessemer. The shooting occurred about 2:18 p.m. during the gathering. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office officers responding to reports of two people shot found Hall and a second victim, 27-year-old D'Angelo La'Marcus Samuel of Birmingham, both suffering gunshot wounds. Brighton Fire & Rescue pronounced both men dead at the scene.

A witness who had been inside cooking said they heard the gunshots and hid in a closet. In the days after the killings, investigators identified 27-year-old James David Abercrombie as a suspect; he was taken into custody and charged with Capital Murder. He also faces four counts of Discharging a Firearm into an Occupied Dwelling and a charge of Certain Persons Forbidden to Possess a Pistol; no bond has been set on the capital count. The investigation remains ongoing.

Did anyone attend the repass or know Hall as Brick and have information that could help investigators?