Birmingham man facing trial says he shot man in self-defense, not during Alabama-Texas A&M football game

A 22-year-old Birmingham man will be tried for murder this week after a judge denied him immunity from prosecution under Alabama’s Stand Your Ground law.

Emanuel Tolbert III is charged with murder in the October 2021 shooting death of 27-year-old Kealend Amad Pickens in a Bessemer home.

Police at the time said an argument between the two men over the Alabama vs. Texas A&M football game led to the deadly shooting, but Tolbert said at a hearing Monday that they were arguing over who shot Tolbert in the head a week earlier. .

Tolbert, in his testimony before Jefferson County Circuit Judge David Carpenter, said Pickens whipped him and brandished a gun and that’s why he shot him.

When the hearing ended, Carpenter said there was not enough evidence to convince him the murder charge should be dropped, but said the jury could still have the opportunity to consider the Stand Your Ground defense.

Tolbert and others gathered at his cousin’s house that Saturday night to watch the football game. The game was in its final minutes Saturday night when Bessemer police said the two men fought at the encounter in the 1000 block of Sixth Avenue North.

Police at the time said witnesses told them an argument centered on which team was better. The owner’s brother asked the two men to leave because they were fighting.

Once outside, shots were fired and Pickens was fatally struck. The shooting happened before the end of the game.

Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Chuantae Brown is prosecuting. Tolbert is defended by attorney Leroy Maxwell.

The Stand Your Ground law protects an individual from criminal prosecution if that person can prove that they used deadly force in self-defense or the defense of another person and:

• Reasonably believes that another person was using, or was about to use, deadly force
• He or she was not involved in any criminal activity
• He or she was in a place where he or she has a right to be

Tolbert, Maxwell said, believed he was in imminent danger, was not involved in any illegal activity and was in a public space, where he had a right to be.

Tolbert testified that he was at his cousin’s house watching the football game when Pickens arrived and was acting “aggressive.”

He said Pickens argued first with his cousin and then with Tolbert.

“No game is over,” Tolbert said. “It was because of me getting shot.”

“We were arguing about who shot me and he hit me in the head where I got shot,” he said. “We started fighting.”

The television broke during the fight and both men were asked to leave.

Tolbert said he told Pickens he could stay, that he would leave.

He said he took about four steps while he was outside and was hit in the head with a gun.

He claimed that when he turned around, Pickens was pointing a gun at him.

“I was scared,” Tolbert said. “I thought he was about to kill me.”

“I thought my life was in danger, so I shot,” he said.

Prosecutor Brown claimed that once Tolbert was forced to leave the party, he no longer had the right to be there, which is one of the criteria of the Stand Your Ground Act. She also noted that he fled the scene rather than wait for police to arrive.

Under questioning from Brown, former Bessemer Det. Roger Eubanks said no witnesses reported seeing the victim with a gun, although Tolbert said he saw her as soon as Pickens entered the party.

Eubanks also said the gun found near the victim was inoperable – it was just a gun frame with no slide.

“Would a layman know it wasn’t operable?” Maxwell asked the detective.

Eubanks responded, “It depends on their knowledge of guns.”

Testimony showed that Pickens was shot eight times.

Jury selection is expected to begin Tuesday. Tolbert is out of jail on bond.