October 7th, 2016 - Jefferson County District Attorney's Office Dismisses Attempted Murder Charges Against Aubrey Williams

After an extensive review of the evidence in this case, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office announces the dismissal of attempted murder charges currently pending against Aubrey Williams.  These charges arose from an incident that occurred on April 24, 2014.   

The investigation revealed that on April 24, 2014, Birmingham Police Officers Richard Haluska and Daniel Aguirre were patrolling in the East Lake area after taking a report concerning an armed robbery at a nearby ATM.  Shortly after 2:00 a.m., the two officers encountered Aubrey Williams and Devon Brown walking in an alleyway.  As the officers approached the two men, Officer Haluska saw a handgun in the back pocket of Mr. Brown and he attempted to secure the weapon.  The situation quickly escalated and Mr. Brown began to wrestle with Officer Haluska.  As Mr. Brown continued to resist, Officer Aguirre attempted to subdue him with his Taser.  At this point, Mr. Williams was on the ground. Officer Aguirre approached Mr. Williams in order to handcuff him for his safety.  Mr. Williams then raised his right arm from underneath him and Officer Aguirre saw a handgun.  Officer Aguirre jumped back and fired two shots.  Officer Aguirre then kicked the firearm away and secured Mr. Williams.  Officer Aguirre immediately ran to the patrol car to ensure the dash cam recording of the incident was preserved.

Neither Mr. Williams nor Mr. Brown were licensed to carry a concealed firearm.  Mr. Brown was later charged with being a Certain Person Forbidden to Possess a Pistol and also for a murder that occurred the previous night.

The dash cam video was submitted to the FBI Crime Lab in an attempt to enhance the video image, but they were unable to do so.  The results of their efforts were recently submitted to the District Attorney’s Office. 

After an extensive review of all of the evidence in this case, the state is unable to meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.  Due to the fact that there are pending criminal charges against Devon Brown and ongoing civil litigation involving this incident, the District Attorney’s Office cannot release any further details concerning this matter.