Lipscomb man charged with attempted murder in Bessemer triple homicide

A Lipscomb man has been charged in connection with the shooting at a gas station in Bessemer that left three people dead.

Jeffery Dwaine Moody Jr., 22, is charged with attempted murder in connection with the Aug. 31 shooting at the Citgo on Fourth Avenue in Bessemer, police announced Monday.

Authorities said Moody fired shots from a vehicle but did not hit anyone and never got out of the vehicle.

Moody was booked into the Jefferson County Jail Friday afternoon and remains incarcerated on $500,000 bail.

Raukeem Cunningham, a 20-year-old, also of Lipscomb, is charged with capital murder of Christopher Eddins (25), Ronald Dixon Jr. (20) and Wesley Fowler (40).

Moody was in the car with Cunningham. Authorities said both fired shots from the car, but Cunningham got out and followed the victims inside the store, where he continued firing.

Willie B. Stokes III, 25, of Bessemer, is charged with first-degree obstruction of justice.

Charging documents against Stokes say he bought gasoline for Cunningham to use in setting the suspect's vehicle on fire.

The shooting occurred this Friday shortly after 11:30 p.m.

A motive was not disclosed.

Three days later, on Labor Day, four people were shot in a drive-by shooting while attending a small vigil for the victims of Friday's killing.

Police initially assumed that three people were injured, but on Tuesday they learned that a woman had also been hit. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

On Sunday evening, three men were shot in the parking lot of a small commercial street on Ninth Avenue North. One or more gunmen approached their pickup truck and opened fire.

Police said they do not believe the shooting was connected to the two at Citgo.

“I have been associated with the city of Bessemer for nearly 30 years,” Mayor Kenneth Gulley said during a press conference last week, “and I have never experienced a more violent, tragic weekend than this past one.”

“These victims are not just statistics,” the mayor said. “They are our young men. They are sons. They are brothers. They are grandchildren. And their lives mattered.”

Gulley said the weekend's violence left him heartbroken.

“The perpetrators of these acts of violence will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the mayor said. “We are determined to use all the means at our disposal to combat this criminal element and bring swift justice to the victims and their families.”

“I ask everyone affected by these evil and evil acts to put aside their emotions and take a moment to reflect on their choices and their impact on their family, friends and neighbors,” he said. “Retribution is never the answer.”

“If we take revenge, we all lose,” he said. “It's a vicious cycle that never ends. It only deepens the wounds.”

Bessemer Police Chief Michael Wood said the department has deployed all available resources and reached out to county, state and federal law enforcement agencies for assistance.

“Our condolences go out to the families,” he said. “No one deserves to lose a child, a family member, in this way.”

“This will simply not be tolerated in the city of Bessemer,” said the police chief. “We will not tolerate anything like this.”

The investigation is ongoing and more arrests may be made. Anyone with information about any of the weekend shootings is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.