Who killed Kijuan Harrell? Witnesses, clues sought in connection with the 2018 murder on Valley Avenue in Birmingham

More than six years have passed since a 20-year-old man was killed in a shooting on Valley Avenue in Birmingham, and police and his family remain hopeful of finding his killer or killers.

Kijuan Harrell, a 20-year-old graduate of Pinson Valley High School, was shot on June 23, 2018, sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle.

Shots rang out just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday at 500 Valley Avenue.

The vehicle Harrell was driving stopped in the parking lot on the west end of Fox Valley Apartments.

He was taken to UAB Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:13 a.m. from a gunshot wound to the chest.

There was another man in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, but he was not injured.

Police concluded early in the investigation that Harrell may have been a witness who was caught in the crossfire.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said Thursday that shots were fired from a black vehicle, possibly a Nissan Maxima.

“Many people loved Kijuan” – his mother, Chiquita Norman Dixon, he told AL.com in 2018. “A piece of my soul has been torn out and it won’t come back.”

Dixon has previously said she believes those who know what happened are not telling police or the truth about what led to her son’s death.

Harrell graduated from high school with an advanced diploma and played basketball.

Anyone with information that could assist our detectives should contact the Homicide Unit directly at 205-254-1764 or remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.