Updated: Suspect charged in shooting of Cuban woman near Avondale Park

From Tribune staff reports

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has released the identity of a woman killed in a shooting near Avondale Park earlier this week.

Dianisleidy Rodriguez Hernandez, 34, who was listed as living in Cuba, was shot and killed Wednesday in an apartment complex in the 4200 block of 5th Avenue South.

The location is close to Avondale Park and the bustling Avondale business district.

It is also just two blocks from the scene of an armed robbery and subsequent shooting that left three men injured and one man dead on June 21.

According to BPD Officer Truman Fitzgerald, officers responded to a call around 4:40 p.m. on July 3 that a person had been shot.

When they arrived, they found Hernandez lying unconscious near an apartment with a gunshot wound.

Birmingham fire and rescue personnel pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

Fitzgerald said someone was arrested at the scene and that police plan to obtain a search warrant to gain access to the nearby apartment.

Johnny Ray Sears

On Friday, police announced that 44-year-old Johnny Ray Sears had been charged with Hernandez’s murder.

He is currently being held without bail in the Jefferson County Jail.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has restructured the leadership of Birmingham Police, even though the number of murders in 2024 was significantly higher than in 2023.

Woodfin also released a statement on Friday regarding the recent increase in the murder rate.