Lee Earl Ross, a 71-year-old man, spent many weekends the same way—out back at a family home on the 1700 block of 48th Street in Birmingham’s Ensley area, talking late into the night, cooking, and keeping an easy watch over the children who moved in and out of the yard. People close to him described him as steady and dependable, still working part time and helping raise a young relative with his longtime partner, the kind of presence a family quietly leans on until he’s suddenly gone.
On the night of July 15, 2023, that familiar backyard routine was shattered. Birmingham police were alerted to gunfire in the area by the city’s ShotSpotter system and were dispatched to the scene around 11 p.m.; while officers were en route, the call was updated to report two people had been shot. When they reached the backyard, Ross and his friend Daryl Maurice Jones were found suffering from gunshot wounds. Fire and Rescue rushed them to UAB Hospital, but both died from their injuries a short time later.
Investigators said an unknown shooter or shooters opened fire as the men were outside enjoying the night, with officials indicating at least one of the victims appeared to have been targeted. Family members, trying to understand why anyone would want them dead, described how ordinary and consistent those evenings were—sometimes so late that the men would nod off in the yard—until the sudden eruption of gunfire, with reports that at least 10 shots were fired. One relative said a third friend had been with them earlier and had left before the shooting, a detail that only deepened the sense of randomness and loss.
In the days that followed, authorities said no one had been taken into custody and asked the public to come forward with information, directing tips to Birmingham Police homicide detectives or Crime Stoppers. Public reports available about the case continued to describe the attack as unsolved, with no publicly named suspects and no announced arrests connected to the killings.
