On the evening of May 1, 2019, a burst of gunfire shattered the peace in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, leaving a family and community to grapple with the sudden loss of Terry Wayne Bonner Jr. The 31-year-old Black male was found inside an apartment, the victim of a fatal shooting that would become another grim statistic in the city's homicide count.
Birmingham Police officers from the West Precinct were the first to arrive at the scene in the 1300 block of 27th Street Ensley, responding to a call of a person shot. Inside one of the apartment units, they discovered Bonner suffering from a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service paramedics were quickly on the scene and transported him to UAB Hospital. Despite their efforts, Bonner succumbed to his injuries, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The initial investigation by the Birmingham Police Department was swift, with detectives canvassing the area for witnesses and any information that might lead to a suspect. The circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately clear, and authorities did not initially release details about a potential motive or any persons of interest. The case was classified as a homicide, and the investigation was handed over to the department's homicide detectives.
In the days and weeks that followed, the investigation into Terry Wayne Bonner Jr.'s death continued. However, details regarding any significant breakthroughs, the identification of a suspect, or any subsequent arrests have not been made publicly available in the information that has been released. The case, like many others, left a family searching for answers and a community hoping for justice that, according to available online records, remains elusive.
