15-year-old girl killed in Birmingham shooting that injured 5-year-old brother now identified

Authorities have released the name of a 15-year-old girl killed in a domestic shooting that also injured her younger brother.

Birmingham police identified the teenage victim as Cornelia Rose Lathan.

“An innocent young life is lost,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said, “and it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

The deadly shooting happened before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of North 25th Street in the Park Place Apartments.

Officers were called to the apartment earlier Wednesday, Chief Scott Thurmond confirmed. They were responding to a domestic dispute, which was verbal and not physical.

Thurmond said there have already been national calls to the apartment.

Hours later, shortly before 12:30 p.m., police said the woman's ex-boyfriend who lived in the apartment returned. He stood in the parking lot and opened fire.

Witnesses said they heard three to four gunshots, then saw the suspect running away.

Cornelia was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her 5-year-old brother was shot in the leg and transported to Children's of Alabama. His injuries are not life-threatening.

The children's mother, who is pregnant, was then transported by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Services to an area hospital for observation.

The suspect, whose identity has not been released pending formal charges, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a brief manhunt in Woodlawn. The arrest took place in the 6000 block of First Avenue North.

He is being held at Birmingham City Prison awaiting formal charges.

“It’s just a very heinous situation,” Thurmond said. “We have kids out of school trying to enjoy the summer and we have someone so angry he thinks he has to take violence into his own hands and shoot up an apartment.”

“We continue to see these things in our city over and over again,” Thurmond continued. “These are people who know each other and it’s really sad to see this continue.”

Cornelia is the 70th homicide in Birmingham this year. Of these, seven were found to be justifiable and therefore not considered criminal.

Across Jefferson County, there were 93 homicides, including 70 in Birmingham.