By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – An 18-year-old Birmingham man who has been charged with a Nov. 9 Alabaster armed robbery is now facing capital murder charges in Birmingham, according to police.

The Birmingham Police Department arrested Jamarlon Edwards on Nov. 15 and originally charged him with one felony count of first-degree robbery after the department investigated a Nov. 8 carjacking in Bessemer, according to BPD Lt. Sean Edwards.

During the Bessemer incident, a woman called Birmingham police at about 10:35 a.m. to report her 2013 Dodge Challenger had been stolen after suspects intentionally struck her vehicle from behind.

When the woman got out to survey the damage, a suspect allegedly got into her vehicle and drove off with it.

After BPD detectives investigated the incident, they identified Jamarlon Edwards as one of the suspects, and took him into custody on Nov. 15.

The Bessemer carjacking happened one day before another carjacking at Alabaster’s Propst Promenade shopping center, in which Jamarlon Edwards has been named a suspect. During the Alabaster carjacking, Parsons said two black males pulled up in a red 2005 Dodge Charger and began asking him about his car. Parsons said one of the males approached his car and began asking questions.

When he showed one of the men his keys, the suspect pulled a gun and stole Parsons’ vehicle, he said. According to the APD incident report, the suspects stole Parson’s $30,000 vehicle, a $600 Glock pistol in the center console and a $700 iPhone. Parsons’ car was totaled in a police pursuit in Ensley the following day.

On Nov. 23, the Alabaster Police Department charged Jamarlon Edwards with counts of first-degree robbery and first-degree theft of property tied to the Nov. 9 incident. APD also charged the suspect with counts of second-degree robbery and second-degree assault tied to a previous armed robbery of an elderly victim in Alabaster.

Birmingham police have brought a more serious charge against Jamarlon Edwards after the suspect allegedly played a role in the Nov. 7 shooting death of a 27-year-old man. Police brought a capital murder charge against Jamarlon Edwards on Nov. 20 while he was still being held in the Jefferson County Jail on the robbery charge.

According to Birmingham police, the shooting happened in Pratt City shortly before 4 p.m. on Nov. 7. During the incident, the victim, 27-year-old Justin Poole, was driving his Buick when he stopped in the roadway.

“A white Dodge Charger pulled up next to him and someone exited the Charger and fired several shots into the victim’s vehicle,” read a BPD press release. “According to witnesses, the victim tried to leave the location but ran into an abandoned house two blocks away. The Charger fled the scene in the opposite direction.”