Isaiah Earl Hosanna, a 20-year-old Black man remembered for his kind and funny nature, was a recent graduate of Hoover High School’s class of 2024. He lived in Hoover, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, and worked at a local Jack's restaurant. Friends and those who knew him recalled a young man with a bright future ahead of him, which was tragically cut short in the fall of 2026.
On the evening of Monday, September 28, 2026, Isaiah and some other individuals arranged to meet someone in
the parking lot of a McDonald's in Birmingham's Five Points West neighborhood. Shortly before 9:00 p.m., in the 2200 block of Bessemer Road, the meeting concluded and gunfire suddenly erupted. As Isaiah and the others tried to flee the chaotic scene, he was struck by a bullet. The shooting also left the windows of the fast-food restaurant shattered.
Birmingham Police Department officers from the West Precinct were dispatched to the location at 8:56 p.m. on a report of a person shot. They arrived to find Isaiah unresponsive in the parking lot, suffering from a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel transported him to UAB Hospital, but his injuries were too severe. He was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. A second man who was with Isaiah was also shot during the incident. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital by a private vehicle.
The day after the shooting, several community groups gathered outside the McDonald’s to hold a vigil. Organizations including Faith in Action, Free Da Streetz Birmingham, JCFRC-RESTORE, and the Crescent Cultural Center came together to promote gun violence awareness. They passed out flyers to drivers and passersby, urging the community to find peaceful ways to resolve disagreements in the wake of the tragedy that took Isaiah’s life. His death marked the 34th homicide in Birmingham for the year 2026.
The Birmingham Police Department launched a homicide investigation, with detectives from the B.P.D. Homicide Unit leading the case. In the days following the shooting, Police Chief Michael Pickett renewed calls for local businesses to integrate their surveillance cameras with the department's Real Time Crime Center. He noted that while many businesses in the area had cameras, direct access could provide investigators with critical, immediate information to help identify suspects and understand the sequence of events in real-time, potentially saving lives.
On Tuesday, October 6, just over a week after the shooting, authorities announced a breakthrough. The Birmingham Police Department’s Violent Crime Apprehension Team, working with assistance from the Decatur Police Department, arrested two suspects in Decatur, a city about 80 miles north of Birmingham. The suspects were identified as 20-year-old Ernesto Gama Pablo of Fort Payne and an unnamed 17-year-old male.
Ernesto Gama Pablo was charged with capital murder for Isaiah’s death, as well as attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. He was booked into the Jefferson County Jail and is being held without bond. The 17-year-old was transported to the Birmingham City Jail and placed on a 48-hour felony extension. As of October 2026, the case is proceeding through the court system. Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to contact the B.P.D. Homicide Unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
