On a tragic Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama, the life of 32-year-old Rodriquez Dreke Powell was cut short in a hail of gunfire. The date was September 3, 2022, and Powell was sitting in a vehicle with his 35-year-old cousin, Justin Jarell Taylor, in the 4200 block of Inglenook Street when the violence erupted.
Around 1:45 p.m., a small sedan reportedly drove past their parked Ford Mustang, and an occupant unleashed a barrage of over twenty rounds into the car.
When Birmingham Police Department officers responded to the scene, they found both men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Powell was pronounced dead at the scene, having barely made it out of the passenger seat onto the roadway. Taylor, who was in the driver's seat, was rushed to UAB Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The shooting marked the city's 99th and 100th homicides of the year.
The brazen daylight shooting left a family and community reeling. Powell, known to his loved ones as 'Dreke,' had just finished his shift at Brother's Recycling and had gone to the mall with his cousin before the fatal encounter outside his girlfriend's house. Tragically, this was not the first time Powell's mother, Theta Johnson, had experienced such a devastating loss; he was the third of her sons to be killed by violence in the city.
As of the latest reports, no arrests have been made in the double homicide, and the investigation remains ongoing. The Birmingham Police Department has repeatedly appealed to the public for any information that could lead to the identification and apprehension of the person or persons responsible. The families of Rodriquez Powell and Justin Taylor continue to wait for justice, holding vigils to keep their memories alive and pleading for anyone with knowledge of the crime to come forward.
