‘They say I’m the monster’: Man accused in 18 murders defends himself on Facebook
By Jon Paepcke
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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WVTM) — A Fairfield man linked to 18 Birmingham murders is defending his reputation.
Damien McDaniel is charged with a slate of killings dating back to 2023. On Monday, he pushed back on Facebook about the avalanche of cases he faces.
Those include the murder-for-hire of firefighter Jordan Melton in 2023 and two different 2024 quadruple homicides, one at the trendsetter’s venue in July and the Hush Lounge massacre at Five Points South, which made national headlines just three months later.
He has pleaded not guilty in court to all of the charges.
On Monday, a long post was published on his personal Facebook page, which can be read in its entirety below.
It starts off by offering condolences to everyone affected by the crimes he is accused of and talks about how his family has been threatened and his own mother’s home has been shot at.
It goes on to attack the investigative methods of detectives, trying to cast shadows over search warrants that led to his arrest:
“I want to my send my condolences to all those who have been affected by these accusations…. I’m not speaking clarity and I’m definitely not asking for pity, this is for me because I see how the world is trying to portray me to be and no I’m not mad but I will not allow you all to defame my character. I wasn’t gone say or try to clear up the assumptions but the truth is this situation takes a toll on more than just me and my family. My uncle has been targeted, and that resulted in a shooting. My mother’s home was also shot at.
“It takes a toll on eveyone who’s been affected and I truly send my sincerest condolences because no one deserves to lose a son, a daughter, mother or father so I understand how yall feel because I’ve lost people I loved. I almost lost my own life on numerous occasions so I understand. The thing is tho we’re all entitled to our own opinion so I’m not mad at you all because yall been misled by the same people who took an oath to protect us. They say I’m the monster but they’re the ones who are wicked and abuse their power because they want to oppress us. They tell yall their side of the story but I have a question, can yall handle my side of the story?
“Because I’ve come to the realization that’s it’s time to give the people the truth and rather yall believe it or not it’s up to you. I’m a man of God and have no reason to lie to yall. You all have questions and I have the answers. It may not be what you want but it’s the truth. When all this happened, I was on probation for an alleged attempted murder after I served 3 years for a crime. The thing is I did a year in juvenile for the same crime but the same people who once again took an oath tricked a 17 year old to cop out to a case I didn’t commit but that was my mistake. They took advantage of me and I fell for it. The reason I’m telling you all this is because for the 17 months I was out I was on probation for the crime and reported to my PO Ms White. Every month I was on time, I paid my fees on time, she never had any problems with me until the shooting at Hush they accused me of. On October 3, 2024 I went to report and for the first time she drug test me which was weird because she knew I didn’t do drugs, drink or use Tabacco so I was surprised she wanted to test me but I passed the test and walked out. When I walked outside I seen 20 federal officers walking around my car which was also weird so I paid it no mind and drove off. As I was driving I seen multiple officers following behind me, they didn’t realize I was aware of them following me. They also never pulled me over. I had a strange feeling about how they were able to follow me and later found out that they had illegally planted a tracker on my vehicle. The next day on October 4, 2024 the police conducted a search at a family members residence. They had obtained a warrant but were dishonest about what the search was for. They claimed that they seen a car covered with a tarp, that supposedly matched the car of the alleged suspects from the Hush shooting. Which was also strange because we had no knowledge of a vehicle or any crimes that were committed. There was also no way they could see in his back yard due to the wooden fence surrounding his house. The only way they could get to the back of the house was through an alley that no one came through because it was completely covered with trees , you could hardly tell it was there. The warrant they had also didn’t cover the things they took from the residence. Another illegal stunt they pulled. They then arrested him and questioned him about my whereabouts which was confusing to me because why were they inquiring about me? Was I a suspect of something I didn’t know about? A couple days later on October 8, 2024 a warrant was issued for my arrest for brandishing firearms online. When they came to arrest me for the warrant I was at a friend’s house and I seen more than 50 officers, some were federal and some were Birmingham Police Department . When they arrested me they lied and said I had thousands of dollars, marijuana and a firearm in the vicinity of the residence I was at. I was so disoriented I couldn’t comprehend what was taking place. After they had me detained they finally told me what I was being arrested for. The SWAT team and federal officers started conducting a search of the property. I then was escorted to the Jefferson County Jail, there they told me I was being charged with the alleged contraband that was on the property. Days later my attorney informed me that they conducted the search and my arrest illegally. I then went to court for my probation violation. The state did not provide any evidence of me brandishing firearms online. The reason why is because I have never posted a picture of a firearm nor with one. It was a lie that was made up so that they would have a warrant in order to be able to arrest me and then blame me for the hush incident. I have never been a suspect for any murder until after the hush shooting. 12 day preceding that I was charged with multiple homicides. They allegedly said that a phone was found near the area I was arrested that connected me to the crimes. This was also false information. I then retained Randy Orton as my lawyer. Lorenzo Riley and I both retained him but Lorenzo had did it first. Randy sold me out in court so that the judge would violate my probation. Randy was rewarded by the state for not accurately representing me and allowing the state to revoke my probation. There was a chance to beat the case because there was no evidence provided against me. The state violated several laws to arrest me but Randy did not defend me when it came to this. After this Randy went to see Lorenzo where he told him he was better off testifying against me. He informed Lorenzo that he had already spoke with the DA and worked up a deal. Lorenzo refused to testify and that is Randy stated that he could no longer represent him due to conflict of interest. Randy had been aware that he was not able to represent two persons in the same case. Another illegal act performed by the government to lie and accuse me. Detective Davenport lied on the stand about the details of my arrest as well. While imprisoned I have been beaten threatened and harassed. They have even went as far as putting metal in my food. They confined me to solitary confinement so that what was being done to me was a secret. My family called Sheffif Peter’s and attorney affairs but the situations were not handle nor addressed. Everytime I am transported back to Jefferson county I feel as if my life is in danger and they are trying to kill me, which is why I am hesitant to even attend court. Last time I appeared in court on June 17th the judge was asked to remove to death penalty in which she declined. In her defense it is because in the state of Alabama it’s constitutional. Due to these circumstances I have been motivated to write a book about my journey. In that book will be an in depth overview of trials and tribulations. Thank you for your time today, may peace be upon us all and power to the people. If anyone would like to reach out to me, my messages are open.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says inmates are only allowed to use tablets to make phone calls. There is no computer access.
They say the only way he could have pulled it off is through a third party.
Both McDaniel’s attorney and the district attorney would not comment on the accused killer’s comments.
We also reached out to a couple of victims’ relatives for a reaction, but they did not offer one.
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