A 35-year-old mother will be laid to rest Sunday, just over a week after she was fatally shot inside a Birmingham bar where she had stopped to get something to eat.
Diontranet Tinae Brown was killed Sept. 19 inside 604 Bar and Lounge at 604 Ninth Street North, leaving behind a 14-year-old son and a host of grieving family and friends.
Those friends and family gathered Friday night at Railroad Park to honor Brown.
The vigil took place just about 100 yards away from another vigil for a different homicide victim – 21-year-old Anitra Holloman who was killed in the Five Points South mass shooting one week ago today.
“It’s hit us pretty hard,’’ said Brown’s first cousin, Anthony Gardner. “With the funeral coming up, we’re just trying to prepare ourselves.”
Brown was a frequent customer at 604 Bar and Lounge. She stopped by there that Thursday night to get some food.
North Precinct officers received a call of a person shot around 8:50 p.m. They arrived to find Brown unresponsive inside the bar.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service rushed Brown to UAB Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m.
“We do not believe this was a random shooting,’’ said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. “It is unclear if the victim was the intended target.”
“We don’t know if she was targeted or a bystander,’’ Gardner said. “We’re still trying to figure all that out.”
Birmingham police investigate a deadly shooting inside the 604 Bar and Lounge at 604 Ninth Street North.(Contributed)
Brown was a graduate of Wenonah High School. Many of her former classmates attended the vigil, bearing gold balloons.
“She was a sweet and loving person,’’ Gardner said. “She brightened the room anyplace she went.”
“If somebody was down, she was the one who wanted to get you back in a good mood,’’ he said. “It’s just sad that her life was cut short over foolishness.”
Brown’s son is struggling with the loss.
“It’s tough. He’s still trying to deal with it,’’ Gardner said. “A lot of us are still trying to accept the fact that she is gone.”
Brown is one of 16 people to die from violence in the city so far in September.
The family is hoping for answers and justice.
“I do feel like Birmingham police are doing all they can with everything going on,’’ Gardner said. “The violence is pretty bad. Hopefully, it gets better.”
Anyone with information in Brown’s slaying or any of the other homicides is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
