A year after tragedy: Birmingham families still mourning loved ones lost in mass shooting

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A year ago, four Birmingham families had their lives changed forever when their loved ones - four lifelong friends - were killed in a mass shooting in the Smithfield community.

Now, 21-year-old Lamarion Charlie faces two counts of capital murder in connection with the case. However, for the grieving families, justice brings little comfort.

First cousins Kevin McGhee and Terrell Edwards, along with their friends Talton Tait and Cortez Ray, were spending what should have been an ordinary Friday afternoon at a neighborhood car wash when they were tragically gunned down.

For Kevin McGhee’s mother, the pain remains as deep as ever.

“This has been the worst and longest year of my life. It has left me empty,” said McGhee’s mother, Holmes.

She remembers that day vividly. She and Kevin had spent nearly the entire day on the phone together.

“When he got to the car wash, he had only been there for five minutes,” Holmes recalled. “He told me, ‘Mama, I’m here now. I’m going to eat my food, and I’ll call you when I finish.’”

Moments later, her world was shattered.

“I heard from my youngest son, and he said, ‘I heard Kevin and Terrell just got sh—.’ He couldn’t even finish the word ‘shot’ before I hung up the phone and rushed out there.”

But by the time she arrived, Kevin had already been taken to the hospital.

“I didn’t see my child,” she said. “The police tried to console me, but I just wanted to know if my son was still there. Then I heard over the radio - there were four bodies at the scene. But my son was gone.”

She says if she had the chance to speak to her son again, Holmes knows exactly what she would say.

“Son, how are you? Do you want something to eat?” she said, recalling their usual conversations. “He would probably say, ‘Basically, chicken.’”

“But more than anything, I would tell him that I miss him and I love him,” she continued. “I’m not mad at him, but I wish he had never gone there that day.”

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