Cornelia Rose Lathan was a 15-year-old Honor Roll student with a bright future. A rising sophomore at Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School in Bessemer, the Black female teenager dreamed of becoming a nurse, a pilot, or serving in the military. Her mother, Rebekah Lathan, described her first-born child as "a really sweet spirit, an all-around sweet girl."
On the afternoon of June 19, 2024, those dreams were cut short inside her family’s home at the Park Place Apartments in
Birmingham, Alabama. Earlier that day, police had responded to a verbal domestic disturbance between Rebekah and her ex-boyfriend, but he had left before they arrived. He had made threats that morning, and around 12:20 p.m., he returned. While on the phone arguing with Rebekah, he opened fire on the apartment from the parking lot. Cornelia was struck and pronounced dead at the scene. Her 5-year-old brother, Roman, was also hit, suffering a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.
Police quickly identified the suspect as 27-year-old Otis Lee Montgomery III. Within an hour of the shooting, officers found him several blocks away and took him into custody. Investigators learned that Montgomery had a previous domestic violence charge involving Rebekah Lathan, though the charge had been dismissed for "want of prosecution."
Montgomery was charged with capital murder for shooting into a residence, attempted murder for the wounding of Roman, and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. Following a preliminary hearing, a judge ruled there was enough probable cause to send the case to a grand jury. Despite a request from his attorney, Montgomery was ordered to be held in the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
The case reached its conclusion nearly two years later. In February 2026, Otis Lee Montgomery III entered a plea deal in connection with the murder of Cornelia Rose Lathan and the shooting of her brother.
