Montgomery officials report five deaths over weekend, urge community cooperation

Montgomery City officials on Tuesday outlined four separate incidents that resulted in five deaths over the recent weekend and urged residents to report tips as investigations continue.

Mayor, speaking at a city briefing, called for calm and community involvement, saying the city must “make sure that this violence stops” and asking residents to seek peaceful resolutions rather than resorting to violence.

Chief Graboy of the Montgomery Police Department said the department responded to four incidents that required criminal investigations and offered details on each. “One homicide is too many, and our police department will take each act of violence in our community seriously with zero tolerance,” he said.

According to the police timeline provided at the briefing, the department responded to a homicide at about 1:30 a.m. Friday in the 1700 block of West Haven Lane; the victim was identified as Bridal Sanders, 30, and died of a gunshot wound. Another investigation began at about 4 a.m. Sept. 20 in the 3100 block of Virginia Loop Road; officers found Tamiko Coleman, 50, who sustained fatal blunt-force injuries.

On Saturday at about 7:40 p.m., units responded to the 5100 block of Carmichael Road and found Anthony Davis, 37, and Prentice Parks, 44, both deceased from gunshot wounds; a third person at that scene was injured but not life-threateningly, and police said the case appears self-contained with no outstanding suspects. A fourth investigation began at about 2:11 a.m. Sept. 21 at 3200 Raintree Drive, where Amari Capleton, 19, was found dead from stab wounds; that case also was described as self-contained with no outstanding suspects.

Chief Graboy said investigators have “strong leads” in several cases and that “suspects will be charged, held accountable, and they will face justice in a court of law.” He encouraged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 625-4000 or the Montgomery Police Department at 625-2831.

Both the mayor and police emphasized prevention and community resources. The mayor urged residents and business owners to be vigilant and to intervene before disputes escalate. He asked people to use conflict-resolution approaches and to seek help for loved ones who may be at risk of violent behavior.

Chief Graboy named local organizations that can help people in crisis, including the Family Guidance Center, the Family Justice Center and VOCAL, and said he would ask the department’s public information officer to post contact information for those groups. The mayor noted some federal grant dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act are expiring and said the city is seeking ways to sustain and expand violence-prevention work, including the Office of Violence Prevention, the city’s CBI (Community-Based Intervention) team, community-violence-intervention programs and hospital-based violence-intervention efforts.

Officials framed the incidents as largely interpersonal and urged family members and community organizations to act early if someone shows warning signs. “When we have to deal with them, we have to deal with them in the interest of justice, and we will not stop on that,” the chief said, and officials said they will make further announcements as investigations yield new information.

No formal actions or votes were taken during the briefing.