An Alabama man charged with homicide in two separate mass shootings pleads not guilty in state court on Wednesday.
Damien McDaniel, 22, is accused of killing 11 people between July and September of last year in Birmingham, Alabama — which would account for over 7% of all homicides in the city in 2024. McDaniel is also accused of wounding 29 others during that time period.
McDaniel's lawyer John Robbins said that he hasn't "seen a shred of evidence,” and he added that even if he had he would be barred from publicizing the details of the ongoing case.
“We’re putting together a very good team to handle the defense, and we want to make sure this process is fair and that we protect his rights," Robbins told AL.com.
Eight of the 11 capital murder charges are related to two separate mass shootings in Birmingham in 2024. One shooting took place outside of a Birmingham nightclub in July and left four people dead and 10 others wounded. Another man, Hatarius Woods, 27, was also charged with capital murder in connection with the July mass shooting.
The other took place outside of a different Birmingham nightclub, Hush Lounge, in September where four people were fatally shot and 17 others were injured. A spokesperson for the Birmingham police department said that there were “multiple shooters” in the September mass shooting, and that the investigation is ongoing.
Birmingham had three total mass shootings in 2024.
McDaniel is also accused of three separate fatal shootings that took place on three separate days in August and September — culminating in 11 total homicides.
There were 151 homicides in 2024, according to the Birmingham Police Department, the highest number of people killed since 1933, when there were 148 homicides.
“These individuals started back in July, and they did not stop from September,” Birmingham Police Department spokesperson Truman Fitzgerald said at a news conference in November where he announced McDaniel's indictment on charges related to July's mass shooting.
“We often say on these crime scenes that we have a few select criminals that add to this crime and give Birmingham a bad name.”
