In the summer of 2024, a night of celebration at a Birmingham, Alabama nightclub turned into a scene of tragedy, claiming the life of 56-year-old Angela Weatherspoon and three others. On Saturday, July 13, 2024, gunfire erupted at a privately owned nightclub on 27th Street North where a birthday party was being held. Weatherspoon was inside the venue when the shooting occurred.
The incident was part of a drive-by shooting that also resulted in the deaths of Lerandus Anderson, 24,
Markeisha Gettings, 42, and Stevie McGhee, 39. McGhee was found deceased on a sidewalk outside the business, while Weatherspoon and Gettings were discovered inside. Anderson was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The violent outburst also left ten other individuals with gunshot wounds.
For months, the case remained under investigation with no publicly identified suspects. Then, in late November 2024, Birmingham police announced significant breaks in the case with the arrests of two men. Damien Laron McDaniel III, 22, and Hatarius Woods, 27, were taken into custody and faced charges of capital murder and ten counts of first-degree assault in connection with the mass shooting at the nightclub.
Authorities revealed that the investigation into McDaniel and Woods uncovered their alleged involvement in a string of other violent crimes. McDaniel, in particular, was accused of being responsible for a total of 11 murders and injuring 29 others in five separate incidents between July and September of that year. The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office has since indicted both men on the charges related to the nightclub shooting.
