A Birmingham musician is found shot to death in his car In the crisp autumn air of November 4, 2007, the vibrant Birmingham, Alabama music scene was tragically silenced for Howard Scott 'Blue' Bernstein. The 51-year-old male musician, known for his passion for the blues, was found dead in his apartment on the city's Southside. The cause of his untimely death was a gunshot wound, marking another grim statistic in the city's homicide count for the year.
Bernstein, a respected instructor in the UAB Music Department and a member of both the Birmingham and Atlanta Blues Societies, was remembered by friends and family for his immense talent and his deep love for his daughters.
The initial investigation into the death of the man described as a 'proud papa' quickly turned into a homicide case. The Birmingham Police Department worked diligently to piece together the events that led to the beloved musician's demise. Their efforts soon focused on two individuals who would become the primary suspects in this senseless act of violence. The motive, as it would later unfold, appeared to be a robbery that escalated to a fatal confrontation, cutting short the life of a man who brought joy to many through his music.
Within weeks of the discovery of Bernstein's body, authorities made a significant breakthrough in the case. On November 28, 2007, police arrested two suspects, Lemarcus R. Collins, who was 18 at the time, and 20-year-old Gbarforlookor L. Tran. Both men were subsequently charged with capital murder, a crime that carried the potential for the most severe penalties under Alabama law. The arrests brought a sense of relief to a community that had been shaken by the violent loss of one of its own creative souls.
The legal proceedings that followed would ultimately see justice served, though not through a lengthy and dramatic trial. In July of 2009, both Collins and Tran opted to plead guilty to the lesser charge of murder. In addition to the murder plea, Collins also admitted his guilt in a count of first-degree robbery. Following their pleas, Lemarcus Collins was sentenced to 30 years in prison, while Gbarforlookor Tran received a 25-year sentence for his role in the tragic death of Howard Bernstein. The resolution of the case, while not erasing the pain of his loss, brought a close to a dark chapter for Bernstein's family, friends, and the Birmingham music community.
