Suspect in Birmingham shooting claimed he acted in self-defense in a shooting on the Clubhouse app that killed a man and injured a woman

The suspect in a fatal shooting in Birmingham following a dispute on the social audio app Clubhouse was seen lunging at the victim with a gun captured on security camera, a detective testified on Tuesday.

The suspect’s lawyer argues that his client was shot in the first place and cannot be charged with shooting in self-defense.

Roddregus Williams-Johnson, 32, He was charged with capital murder in the Aug. 10 death of 32-year-old Brandon Lee.

He is also charged with attempted murder for the wounding of Lee’s girlfriend, Keandra Hendrix, who police say had been involved in a dispute with the suspect.

Jefferson County District Judge Katrina Ross ruled there was enough evidence to send the charges to a grand jury for indictment.

Northern Territory officers were dispatched around 11:55pm that Saturday. to 30th Avenue North in Birmingham’s Collegeville public housing district.

The police entered the house and found a man and a woman injured.

Lee was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman, whose life was in danger, was taken to the hospital.

Two children in the house, aged 7 and 5, escaped uninjured.

The dispute between Williams-Johnson and Hendrix appears to have started on the social audio app Clubhouse, which is similar to a Zoom call.

The argument could be heard on the app as the suspect arrived at the apartment and told listeners to call the police.

Then many gunshots were heard.

Jefferson County District Attorney Charissa Henrich is prosecuting the case. Williams-Johnson is represented by attorney Roderick Walls.

Birmingham Homicide Detective. Ronald Davenport was the only witness at the hour-long trial.

When he arrived at the apartment, Lee was dead in the kitchen from gunshot wounds to his chest, torso, hand and arm, Davenport said.

Hendrix was taken to UAB Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and cuts and scrapes from shrapnel.

Detectives found approximately eight bullet casings at the scene; one belonged to a 9 mm gun and the rest belonged to a 40 caliber gun.

Davenport said no weapons were found in Lee’s apartment and no weapons were linked to the attack.

Hendrix told investigators he was in the apartment with Lee and her two children. He said Williams-Johnson, a contractor who does maintenance at the public housing complex, came to the house.

Davenport said Williams-Johnson and Lee did not know each other, but Williams-Johnson and Hendrix were acquaintances and had been in some sort of argument. He did not disclose the nature of the dispute.

Williams-Johnson arrived at the apartment in a burgundy SUV and Hendrix was standing at the door of the apartment. At one point Lee came downstairs and was standing behind his girlfriend.

The interaction was recorded on Birmingham Housing Authority security cameras monitored by the police department’s Real Time Crime Center.

Williams-Johnson had a cellphone in one hand and what appeared to be a gun in the other, Davenport said.

He said there was no sound in the footage, but it showed the two arguing. Lee could not be seen in the video.

He said Williams-Johnson “lunged” toward Hendrix and then began shooting, continuing to do so as he ran toward the waiting SUV.

Around 1:40 a.m. that Sunday, Williams-Johnson arrived at UAB Hospital with a gunshot wound to his left arm. Northern Territory officers detained him and he has remained in custody ever since.

Davenport said video from UAB Hospital showed Williams-Johnson arriving at the emergency room in the burgundy SUV seen in Collegeville. In the housing authority’s footage, he was wearing the same clothes as the attacker.

During questioning by defense attorney Walls, Davenport said Hendrix did not tell him who fired the first shot.

Williams-Johnson said Lee shot at him first, according to testimony.

“I couldn’t find anything in the video to confirm or deny,” Davenport said.

When Walls asked why Williams-Johnson, who initially claimed he was shot, was being charged, Davenport said the gunfire didn’t start until the suspect attacked Hendrix.

“In my experience as a homicide detective,” Davenport said, “just because you didn’t shoot first doesn’t mean you weren’t at fault.”

Walls asked the detective if he was aware that Hendrix had posted statements on the Clubhouse app that contradicted what he told police, and Davenport said he had heard rumors of that but investigators had not yet been able to access the Clubhouse posts.

Davenport also responded to defense attorney questions in which Hendrix said he did not know what happened to the gun Lee used.

Walls argued that the charges against his client should be dismissed.

“Charging him with capital murder is not only an exaggeration, it goes beyond that,” Walls said. “If someone shoots you with a 9mm cannon, you have the right to fight back, and that’s where we stand.”

Henrich noted that Williams-Johnson never called 911 and that he was a convicted felon, so he should not have been in possession of a firearm.

Walls asked, “Does that make him guilty of capital murder?” he asked.

The prosecutor said the possible self-defense claims are a matter for the jury to decide and are not something that will be decided at a potential trial.

Judge Ross said he understood Hendrix had given conflicting statements, but said his initial statement was based on the detectives’ arrest warrant.

“The victim stated that (Williams-Johnson) shot herself and her boyfriend and that the basis for capital murder was that the shooting was into an occupied residence and there were children present,” Ross said. “I think the state has met its burden of probable cause.”