BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (TCN) — A 27-year-old man is in custody on suspicion of killing his ex-girlfriend’s teen daughter and injuring her son last week.
According to the Birmingham Police Department, on June 19 shortly after 12 p.m., officers responded to the Park Place apartments, where they found a 15-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy with apparent gunshot wounds. Fire personnel pronounced the girl, later identified by officers as Cornelia Lathan, deceased. The boy was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police allege Otis Montgomery III shot the victims during a domestic disturbance. He is reportedly the ex-boyfriend of the victims’ mother. According to AL.com, the mother is pregnant and was also transported to a hospital for observation.
Further investigation revealed Montgomery allegedly stood in the apartment complex’s parking lot when he opened fire. Witnesses reportedly told officials they heard several shots, and then Montgomery fled the area on foot.
Officers found Montgomery within an hour of the shooting. He faces charges of capital murder, attempted murder, and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. Montgomery remains held in the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
Police chief Scott Thurmond told AL.com officers had been called to the apartment earlier in the day for a verbal domestic disturbance, and they had responded to the home for domestic calls in the past.