A tragic and ironic fate befell 57-year-old Robert Chandler, a male resident of Birmingham, Alabama, who was found shot to death inside his home on January 31, 2023. The residence, located on Fairmont Way, was the very same house where Chandler had survived a drive-by shooting nearly four years earlier, an incident that claimed the life of his cousin, William 'Billy' Morris.
In that 2019 attack, Morris was fatally shot while sleeping on the couch as a barrage of bullets struck the home from the outside.
Chandler's body was discovered by a concerned neighbor, which prompted a response from Birmingham Fire and Rescue. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later confirmed that a gunshot wound was the cause of death. The rediscovery of violence at the same address years later added a somber layer to the investigation, highlighting a tragic connection between the two fatal shootings that occurred within the same walls.
The investigation into Robert Chandler's death led to a grand jury indictment in Jefferson County, which brought capital murder charges against two suspects: 28-year-old Tanarence Murphy and 25-year-old Aaron Elijah Bearden. In addition to the murder charges, both men were also indicted on two counts of robbery stemming from separate incidents that occurred in 2021. The arrests marked a significant development in the case, bringing the individuals allegedly responsible for Chandler's death to justice.
