The son of one of the men killed when an argument erupted at a food truck outside a Birmingham club said his father was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Carlos Antonio Stewart, 43, was shot to death early Sunday in the 100 block of Third Avenue North. Also killed was 26-year-old Cornelius Quinterryo Kennedy, 26. Both men lived in Birmingham.
“He was a good guy, a real stand-up guy,’’ said Stewart’s son, Braxton Glover.
North Precinct officers were dispatched just before 2 a.m. Sunday to the 100 block of Third Avenue North on a report of a person shot.
Once at the location, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, they found one of the victims unresponsive on the sidewalk across from a parked food truck. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.
Investigators determined there was a verbal altercation at one of several food trucks parked outside Empire club. The altercation turned physical, and then shots were fired.
The suspect fled the scene before police arrived. No arrests have been announced.
Two men were killed when shots rang out during an argument at a food truck outside a Birmingham nightclub. (Carol Robinson)
As the investigation was ongoing, food truck workers got into the van that pulls the truck and realized there was another man dead inside the van. That discovery was made more than an hour after the initial victim was found.
Fitzgerald said the second victim was part of the initial altercation and apparently got shot and then took refuge in the back of the van and died.
There was a large crowd outside the club, and multiple food vendors were there to serve them.
Glover said his father had just recovered from COVID-19 and was craving chicken after being stuck at home. That’s why he was at the food truck, he said.
“He was a quiet guy,’’ Glover said. “He wasn’t at the club.”
Carlos Antonio Stewart with his son, Braxton Glover (Special to Al.com)
“He’d been wanting chicken, so he went to the food truck to get chicken,’’ Glover said. “He was at the wrong place at the wrong time…and that ultimately led to him dying.”
“Someone he was with got into an altercation with someone on the food truck and they guy came out of food truck which led to a fist fight and then shots fired,’’ Glover said. “He was trying to get across the street, and I think he was shot again. It’s a sad situation.”
Stewart grew up in the Wylam area and worked as a forklift driver.
He leaves behind his son, 23-year-old Glover, and a daughter who turned 12 today.
“I picked her up to take her for cookies and ice cream (on Sunday),’’ Glover said. “She doesn’t really understand what is going on.”
“She told me all she wanted for her birthday was to see her dad,’’ he said. “He was a loving guy, a family guy.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
