On the evening of Sunday, September 22, 2024, Jamarcus Desean McIntyre, a 32-year-old Black man, was killed in an ambush outside a residence in Birmingham, Alabama. At approximately 9:20 p.m., police responded to a Shot Spotter alert in the 700 block of 81st Place South. They arrived to find McIntyre on the sidewalk with a fatal gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Three other people were also wounded in the shooting but survived their injuries.
Investigators learned that after shooting McIntyre, his attackers stole his backpack.
The investigation quickly led to arrests. In October 2024, police obtained warrants for four men on charges of capital murder during a robbery: Demarco Beck, 29; Ny’Quan Lollar, 22; Damien Laron McDaniel, 22; and Larry Rollins Jr., 31. McDaniel and Lollar were also charged with three counts of attempted murder. In November 2024, a fifth man, Zachary Holmes, was arrested on the same capital murder-robbery charge.
As the case proceeded, court filings revealed what prosecutors described as a highly coordinated plot. They alleged that Holmes was inside the home with McIntyre before the attack, sending text message updates to Beck. Rollins was accused of sending photos of McIntyre and his address to McDaniel, who waited outside in a vehicle with the other shooters for hours. Prosecutors identified the shooters as McDaniel, Lollar, and an additional co-defendant, Crishawn Bruce. When McIntyre walked out of the house, the three men allegedly opened fire. McIntyre’s stolen backpack was later found in the vehicle used during the shooting.
The motive appeared to be more than robbery. In April 2025, a grand jury issued a second indictment against Damien McDaniel, this time for capital murder on a murder-for-hire allegation. Prosecutors pointed to text messages allegedly exchanged between Beck and McDaniel less than 12 hours after the homicide, which discussed a payment for the killing being short. The investigation also connected McDaniel to a string of other violent crimes, including a mass shooting in the Five Points South district that occurred the day before McIntyre’s death.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty for defendants including McDaniel and Rollins. In a December 2025 court hearing, attorneys for Rollins argued there was insufficient evidence connecting him to the murder-for-hire plot. As of May 2026, the cases were moving forward with pretrial motions being filed in court.
