Homeless man accused of fatal stabbing at Alabama shelter

Published 10:23 am Tuesday, May 19, 2020

A man has been charged with murder in a fatal stabbing at a homeless shelter in Alabama’s largest city.

Eugene Antonio Pettaway, 31, was booked Sunday according to Jefferson County Jail online records.

Pettaway was named as a suspect in the death of Quavion Demarco Blair, news outlets reported. Blair, 20, was found early Saturday morning with multiple cuts and puncture wounds at Firehouse Shelter in Birmingham, and later pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials did not give a possible motive.

The stabbing involved two guests of the emergency shelter, Firehouse Shelter said in a statement.

The stabbing was “a tragic reminder that accessible mental health care is paramount,” Firehouse Shelter said in the statement on Facebook. “We must work together to end the violence that claims so many lives in our community and across the country.”

Pettaway was being held on a $250,000 bond. It’s unclear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.