It may be 'very difficult' to find fair jury for man accused of killing 18 people, lawyer says

The Alabama man accused of killing 18 people in 2023 and 2024, including two mass shootings, will go to trial in April next year, a judge ruled Tuesday.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama man accused of killing 18 people in 2023 and 2024, including two mass shootings, will go to trial in April next year, a judge ruled Tuesday.

But his attorneys have raised concerns about whether it will be possible to select impartial jurors from a city still reeling from record levels of violence last year.

Damien McDaniel.Birmingham Police Department / via APDamien McDaniel, 22, faces murder charges related to 18 deaths in Birmingham, Alabama — including eight people killed at two separate mass shootings in July and September. Jefferson County District Judge Shanta Owens also ruled that prosecutors could pursue the death penalty against McDaniel under Alabama law.

Birmingham had one of the deadliest years on record in 2024 with 151 homicides, according to records compiled by AL.com. Birmingham police officers have accused McDaniel and one of other man of committing over 30% of those murders, casting the 22-year old as a central force in the widespread violence that touched hundreds of lives across the city.

"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," Birmingham public information officer Truman Fitzgerald said in November.