Fatal shooting of 30-year-old man in northeast Birmingham apartment justified

A fatal shooting at a northeast Birmingham apartment has been ruled justified.

Birmingham police said Thursday that no criminal charges will be filed in the March 10 slaying of 30-year-old Derrick Devell Keith II.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said detectives presented the case to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office, which declined to issue warrants against the shooter.

The shooting happened just before 9 a.m. that Sunday in the 2300 block of Seventh Way NW in the Madison Park Apartments.

Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said Keith and the suspect were involved in a verbal dispute inside one of the units. Shots were then fired, hitting the victim.

Keith ran out of the apartment and collapsed on a sidewalk.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue rushed him to UAB, where he was pronounced dead at 9:38 a.m.

There have been 47 homicides so far this year in Birmingham. Of these, Keith’s is the fifth that is considered justifiable.

In all of Jefferson County, there were 69 homicides, including the 47 in Birmingham.