In the Gate City neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama, a dispute between a couple on a Friday afternoon tragically escalated, leaving a 29-year-old Black / African American man, Raphael Roman, dead from a gunshot wound to the chest on February 6, 2015. The argument between Roman and his girlfriend drew the attention of her brother, 21-year-old Ronald Austin of Gardendale.
According to witnesses, Austin arrived at the scene in the Marks Village public housing community and became involved
in the altercation. The confrontation quickly turned violent when Austin produced a firearm and shot Roman in the chest. When police and paramedics arrived, they found Roman lying in the street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the incident, Ronald Austin was arrested and charged with murder. He was subsequently jailed on a $60,000 bond. However, by the following Monday, he was no longer in custody, according to online inmate records from the Jefferson County Jail. At the time of his death, Roman himself was awaiting trial on unrelated kidnapping and assault charges, for which he had been out of jail on a $126,000 bond.
