The suspect in the mass shooting Birmingham’s Five Points South was interviewed in a YouTube documentary about violence and murder in Alabama.
Damien Laron McDaniel III, 22, is charged with capital murder of two or more people in the massacre that killed four people on Sept. 21 and with 17 counts of first-degree assault for those who were injured.
McDaniel is also charged with murder in the Sept. 19 killing of Diontranet Tinae Brown, a 35-year-old mother who police say was an innocent bystander shot to death inside 604 Bar and Lounge on Ninth Street North.
He faces an additional capital murder charge in the robbery shooting death of 32-year-old Jamarcus McIntyre, who died in a hail of gunfire in the 700 block of 81st Place South less than 24 hours after the Five Points South shooting.
Police say all three homicide cases are linked but they have not publicly disclosed what connected the deaths.
Three other people have also been charged with capital murder in McIntyre’s slaying – Ny’Quan Cordae Lollar, 22, Larry Denzel Rollins, Jr., 31, and Demarco Nakia Beck Jr., 29.
The shooting that killed McIntyre left two others wounded. Court records say McIntyre was killed while he was being robbed of a backpack and its contents.
McDaniel and Lollar both had brief appearances in a documentary called ‘This City Eats People Alive: The Most Dangerous Place in Alabama, America: The Dirty South posted by The Taboo Room With Aaron S.’
The video had more than 400,000 views in three days as of late Monday night.
“Welcome to Alabama, a place that’s no stranger to tough streets and high crime in certain areas. In this documentary, we’re diving straight into some of the most dangerous neighborhoods, where gang life is real, and survival is an everyday grind,’’ YouTuber Aaron Singh writes.
“We’re getting up close with gang members and locals to show you what it’s really like to live in a spot where danger is just around the corner.”
The documentary shows news clips from the Sept. 21 mass shooting, and also shows Mayor Randall Woodfin holding up a machine gun in a recent Birmingham City Council meeting.
“The reason I’ve come to Alabama is because I’ve heard it’s one of the most murderous cities,” Singh says.
About 20 minutes into the documentary, McDaniel and Lollar are briefly seen. It was not clear when the documentary was made.
They were asked if they would have any empathy toward the mothers of someone who was murdered.
“I’m (expletive) going to do the same thing to you so why not do it to them?” McDaniel said. “Why show them compassion when they ain’t gonna show your folks compassion?”
“They ain’t sparing (expletive),” Lollar says.
“They ain’t going to spare me,’’ McDaniel said. “If their son ends up dead and they come to court, they ain’t going to spare me in the mother (expletive) courtroom. They’re going to want my ass (inaudible).”
Singh’s YouTube series has looked at violence in cities across the United States, including Philadelphia, Detroit, Baton Rouge, and Houston.
Singh has said he was inspired to tell such stories by his upbringing in Birmingham, England. In a 2023 MyLondon interview, Singh said his father was a heroin addict who killed another man.