A man linked to a handful of recent deadly shootings in Birmingham, Alabama, was charged on Tuesday in three more murder investigations, including the line-of-duty death of a firefighter in 2023.
Damien McDaniel, now 22, has been charged with capital murder of a first responder in the shooting death of Birmingham firefighter Jordan Melton, who was targeted while working at Fire Station #9 in the Norwood community on July 12, 2023, according to the Birmingham Police Department.
Sgt. Jamal Jones was also shot during the incident, but survived, resulting in an attempted murder charge for McDaniel.
Birmingham police announced on Tuesday that McDaniel, who has been in custody for months, is also charged with intentional murder in the January 2024 death of Mia Nickson and capital murder (murder-for-hire) in the April 2024 death of UPS driver Anthony Love, Jr.
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With Tuesday’s charges, McDaniel is allegedly connected to 14 murders in the Birmingham area and is accused of injuring at least 29 people.
He is charged with capital murder in the July 13, 2024, mass shooting outside Trendsetters Lounge and Event Center that left four people dead and 10 others injured.
He is also charged with capital murder and 17 counts of first-degree assault in the Sept. 21, 2024, mass shooting outside a hookah lounge in the popular Five Points South area, which resulted in four deaths and injured at least 17 others. Birmingham police said at the time of the shooting that they believed the suspects were paid to open fire on the area.
On top of his connections to the two mass shootings, police also believe McDaniel was involved in three other deadly shootings that took place on separate days in August and September.
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McDaniel is currently behind bars at the Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery, Alabama, after his probation was revoked on attempted murder convictions stemming from a 2019 shooting in the Fairfield area.
In the Fairfield case, he was sentenced in 2023 to 15 years in prison with two years to serve followed by three years probation, according to local outlet AL.com.
McDaniel was arrested by Birmingham police in October 2024 and was placed in the Jefferson County Jail.
When his probation was revoked on Dec. 12, 2024, he was transferred to the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections.
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