Kevin Lemond Devose, 47, a Black male from Birmingham, was killed late on the night of August 25, 2021, after walking into the Smart Food Mart at 900 20th Street in Ensley. Police were called just before 10 p.m. and found him inside the store with a gunshot wound to the head. Early reports said the violence grew out of an altercation between two people at the business, and one account described it as a verbal dispute that suddenly turned deadly. In the first chaotic hours after the shooting, the gunman was said to have fled on foot, leaving Devose dead on the floor of a neighborhood convenience store where an ordinary evening had broken apart in an instant.
For a time, the case stood open with no arrest announced, but investigators later said they had identified a suspect. On October 4, 2021, authorities announced the arrest of 39-year-old Marquis Taylor, described as a Birmingham man, in connection with Devose’s killing. Reports said Taylor was charged with murder and held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $100,000 bond. A current Jefferson County inmate inquiry page for Marquise Terell Taylor lists a booking date of October 3, 2021, shows an intentional murder charge tied to an offense date of August 25, 2021, and identifies him as a pretrial inmate. I did not find reliable online reporting showing a trial, conviction, or final court disposition in Devose’s death, so the clearest publicly available record online points to the arrest and pending murder case rather than a completed prosecution.
