On Easter Sunday morning, April 17, 2022, Arthur Armstrong, a 42-year-old man, was found dead inside a home in Birmingham, Alabama, after a domestic argument turned violent. Police were dispatched around 9:30 a.m. to the 1200 block of Stonecrest Drive in the Huffman area on a report that someone had been shot. When officers went inside, they discovered him near a bedroom, unresponsive, with an apparent gunshot wound.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators quickly focused on what had happened inside the house just before the gunfire. Early information released by police indicated that a domestic argument had taken place between Armstrong and an adult woman prior to shots being fired. The woman remained at the residence and cooperated with officers, and detectives arranged to interview her as part of the investigation. Police also said children were at the home at the time, but they were not injured.
As detectives worked through the scene, police reported recovering a gun near Armstrong’s body. The case was treated as a homicide investigation initially, with investigators gathering details for review by prosecutors. The intent, as described by police, was to present what they learned to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office so a decision could be made about whether criminal charges were warranted.
Two days later, on April 19, 2022, prosecutors reached their conclusion. The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office ruled the killing justifiable, and authorities said no arrest had been made and no charges were filed in connection with Armstrong’s death. With that ruling, the matter shifted away from a hunt for a suspect and toward closing out what officials characterized as a justified act under the circumstances they reviewed.
