McDaniel's Trial Set for 2027

0:00It's April 6th. Welcome to Birmingham News today, powered by AI. A Jefferson County man named Damien McDaniel just got a trial date locked in for January 25th, 2027. He is spacing charges for 18 killings over 14 months and a wave of Birmingham shootings from 2023 to 2024. Prosecutors haven't picked which case hits the courtroom first yet. That date came out of a status hearing on April 6th, pushing back what was supposed to be his trial for the July 2024 trendsetters. Lounge mass shooting. They postponed that back in October 2025. Now there's another hearing set for April 13th, 2026, to rule on using up some DNA evidence and testing. These attacks hit hard, leaving 18 dead and over 30 injured across the city. McDaniel's tied to two big mass shootings, one at trendsetters killing four, another in five points south taking four lives and wounding 17. Plus, cases like the murder of firefighter Jordan Melton in July 2023 and a young couple with their unborn child in February 20.

1:0724. The DNA request is for consumptive testing, meaning it'll get used up in analysis with none left over. Officials say this spree shook up neighborhoods, but no word yet on prioritizing the cases. As this builds toward 2027, eyes stay on how prosecutors line it up, just as grinding forward, one hearing at a time.