A 48-year-old Bessemer man with a string of felony convictions in the early 2000s was booked into the Jefferson County Jail last week.
On a December afternoon 21 years ago, a young father was gunned down while he sat in his car at a Birmingham gas station.
Birmingham police on Thursday formally announced the arrest of Rickey Ricardo Witherspoon. Det. Jonathan Ross led the investigation. Witnesses at the time said Powell was sitting in his car at the pumps when a man walked up to the front passenger’s side of the car and opened fire. Detectives, Thurmond said, take their homicide investigations seriously, and the victims become “near and dear to their hearts.“Unfortunately, there are people who may have information abut who may be responsible for murders and shootings and they’re not coming forward for a variety of reason,’' he said. “Those are the things that will help make a difference in Birmingham.”In January 2001, he pleaded guilty to robbery and received a one-year suspended sentence.