Mass Murder in Birmingham: Five Dead in Apparent Drug Rip-Off

 

Ravenn Carlton, center, wife of one of the five people found dead is comforted by Nakia Carlton, left, and Khalena Carlton, right, near the scene where five people were found dead inside a house in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Jan 29, 2012. Birmingham police discovered the bodies when they arrived to investigate a robbery call. Sgt. Johnny Williams said the incident happened about 3:30 a.m. (AP Photo/The Birmingham News, Jeff Roberts)

 

A Birmingham police car sits in the drive way as police investigate the scene where five people were found dead inside a house in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Jan 29, 2012. Birmingham police discovered the bodies when they arrived to investigate a robbery call. Sgt. Johnny Williams said the incident happened about 3:30 a.m. (AP Photo/The Birmingham News, Jeff Roberts)

 

By Nicholas Stix

Since Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper said, “It obviously appears to us this horrific crime was not a random act of violence,” that tells you that it was black-on-black crime. The authorities almost always tell us that obviously targeted black-on-white violence is “random”; that’s the giveaway that it’s black-on-white.

The tip-off that it was probably a drug house is the statement by neighbor Brenda Houston, 64, who said “her street was a quiet one filled with older residents who were friendly with each other. She said there was a constant stream of visitors coming in and out of the home, but that the residents never seemed to cause any disturbances.”

The oddest thing about the article, to me, is Houston’s statement, “They never had any trouble over there. I never seen the police over there. This was really strange that this happened. It wasn't like they were real rowdy.”

She should have seen the police over there. Were the entrepreneurs inside paying off the cops, or is the PD in black-run Birmingham that negligent?

* * *

Officers checking robbery find 5 dead in Ala. Home
January 29, 2012 2:52 p.m. ET
AP/Dallas Morning News

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Police found five people dead inside a Birmingham home when they arrived early Sunday morning to investigate a possible robbery, authorities said.

Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams said officers arrived at the house around 3:30 a.m. Sunday after getting a call that a robbery was in progress and soon discovered the five victims. He told reporters that investigators are interviewing potential witnesses but so far have made no arrests.

"Someone out there knows more information," said Williams. "We know someone is going to do the right thing."

The victims were not immediately identified, nor was the cause of death released. Birmingham authorities launched a homicide investigation and police believe more than one person was involved in the crime.

"It obviously appears to us this horrific crime was not a random act of violence," said Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper.

Brenda Houston, who lives across the street from the west Birmingham house where the bodies were found, said the house had been rented for about a year and a half by a woman in her late 40s and her son and brothers.

"They would speak to us, and that's all we knew," she said. "We didn't know their names but they were always friendly."

Houston, 64, said her street was a quiet one filled with older residents who were friendly with each other. She said there was a constant stream of visitors coming in and out of the home, but that the residents never seemed to cause any disturbances.

"Most people are in a state of shock. They never had any trouble over there," Houston said. "I never seen the police over there. This was really strange that this happened. It wasn't like they were real rowdy."

[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]