On a late summer afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama, the life of 26-year-old Reginald Curtis Crawford Jr., a Black male, was tragically cut short. On September 4, 2021, a dispute inside a business establishment escalated into a scene of violence that would leave two men dead and two others wounded. The incident unfolded at Superior for Men, located at 9164 Parkway East, just after 4 p.m.
According to preliminary investigations, an argument broke out within the business, which quickly spiraled into gunfire. In the aftermath of the shooting, Reginald Crawford Jr. and 21-year-old Cornelius Ja'Shawn Hilliard were identified as the two fatalities. Two other adult males at the scene also sustained injuries from the gunfire.
In the immediate wake of the shooting, law enforcement began a search for four suspects. Their pursuit of a suspect vehicle led to a high-speed chase that ended when the vehicle wrecked near Tarrant-Huffman Road at Linthicum Street in Tarrant. Following the crash, officers were able to apprehend three individuals. A fourth suspect, described as a Black male with a brown complexion, wearing a white t-shirt with a black emblem near the collar, black pants, and black shoes, fled the scene on foot and was believed to be armed.
Subsequent to the arrests, two individuals were charged in connection with the deadly event. Jureil Dowdell, 19, and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested and faced murder charges for the death of Cornelius Hilliard. At the time of their arrest, the investigation into the death of Reginald Crawford Jr. was still being reviewed by the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. Dowdell and the juvenile were taken into custody after a brief pursuit by East Precinct patrol officers and were held in the Jefferson County Jail without bail.
