2nd suspect charged in robbery, murder of young Birmingham father-to-be

A second suspect is now in custody and charged in the slaying of a young father-to-be found dead on a Birmingham street earlier this week.

Travec Brandon Ard, 22, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 11:38 a.m. Wednesday. He is charged with capital murder during a robbery in the Aug. 5 slaying of 21-year-old Brandon Rosario.

Jasmine Roberson was arrested on Aug. 7 on a charge of murder. She was released from the county lockup on Aug. 16 after posting $100,000 bond. Both Ard and Roberson were found in Rosario’s car hours after his body was found.

Rosario was found dead about 7:30 a.m. that Monday in the 9900 block of Turner Avenue near the Airport Hills community. Birmingham police Sgt. Johnny Williams said a citizen was going to visit a friend in the neighborhood when that person spotted a man down in the roadway. He appeared to have been shot and was pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service at 7:38 a.m.

About four hours later, Rosario’s silver Nissan sedan was found in the parking lot of Park Place apartments in downtown Birmingham. Rosario’s brother, Brian Rosario, said he and other family members were looking for their missing loved one when they spotted the vehicle. Roberson was driving and Ard was in the passenger’s seat. Brian Rosario approached the vehicle and Ard got out armed with a gun. He and Roberson then fled the scene. The family did not know at the time that Rosario had been killed.

Police flocked to the scene, roped off the parking lot, processed the car and then had it towed for evidence. More relatives, visibly upset, arrived at the scene as the car was being towed. Family said Roberson also had attended Huffman.

Rosario had attended Huffman High School and was set to become a father for the first time in September. “He’d give his last to everybody,’’ said girlfriend Destiny Wyatt, 19. “Every homeless person, every sick person. He was the person everyone called upon.”

“In his last moments, they called upon him needing his help,’’ Wyatt said. “That’s just how he was.”

Rosario worked in construction and had started his own lawn care service. “He’d get up every morning at 4 a.m., work 14-hour shifts and then do it again the next day,’’ she said. “He was a hard worker.”

Family said Rosario knew Roberson from high school but said they do not believe he knew Ard.

Ard is being held without bond. Anyone with information on Rosario’s death is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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