In the early morning hours of Tuesday, February 5, 2019, the body of a young Black man was discovered by a passerby on a sidewalk in the 1600 block of First Avenue South, near Birmingham's popular Railroad Park. The man, later identified as 21-year-old Ricardo Phillip Watkins, had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:22 a.m. Watkins, who had an address in eastern Birmingham, was initially thought by police to possibly be a transient.
The Birmingham Police Department
quickly launched a homicide investigation into Watkins's death. Investigators at the time were uncertain whether he had been killed at the location where his body was found or if he had been killed elsewhere and his body left near the park.
Despite the ongoing investigation, there have been no public announcements regarding any arrests made or suspects identified in the years following the discovery of Watkins's body. Information about the circumstances leading up to his death has not been released, and the case has not appeared in any subsequent news reports detailing solved homicides in the area.
Friends and family remembered Ricardo, who was also known as 'Rico,' as a person who would give his last to someone in need and could make people laugh when they were down. His death left a void in the lives of those who knew him, as expressed in online memorials where loved ones shared their grief and memories. The investigation into the death of Ricardo Phillip Watkins remains open, one of many unsolved homicides in the city of Birmingham.
