In the cold of a January evening in Selma, Alabama, the life of 36-year-old Allah G. Bishop was brought to a violent and tragic end. On January 8, 2019, at the GWC Homes housing project on Martin Luther King Street, the sound of gunfire shattered the night, leaving Bishop, a Black male from the nearby community of Sprott, fatally wounded. When Selma police officers arrived at the scene, they were met with a chaotic sight: a vehicle engulfed in flames and Bishop lying in front of an apartment,
succumbing to his injuries right there.
The investigation into the city's first homicide of the year moved swiftly. Within days, law enforcement officers zeroed in on a suspect. On January 14, 2019, a coordinated effort by multiple law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of 29-year-old David L. Lewis, who was also known by the street name 'Joe Dinero.' The arrest brought a sense of cautious relief to a community shaken by the brazen violence.
In August of 2019, the evidence gathered against Lewis was presented to a Dallas County Grand Jury. The grand jury found the evidence compelling enough to hand down an indictment, formally charging Lewis with a string of serious offenses. The charges included murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied building, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, and unlawfully breaking and entering into a motor vehicle. Following the indictment, a judge set his bond at a steep $5 million, reflecting the gravity of the alleged crimes. As the legal process began to unfold, the family and friends of Allah Bishop mourned their loss, holding his funeral services on January 12, 2019, at Provewell Baptist Church in his hometown of Sprott.
