Mother of mass shooting victim reacts to additional arrests announced on her daughter’s birthday

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – Three people now face charges in last September’s deadly mass shooting outside the Hush Lounge in Five Points South. The additional arrests come just one day before the six-month anniversary of the shooting.

Thursday, Birmingham Police announced that Ny’Quan Lollar and Crishawn Mclemore-Bruce are charged with capital murder and 17 counts of assault in the case. Damien McDaniel was previously the only person charged in this shooting.

“In many investigations, you hear a lot of different names, and at that time, it may start as hearsay,” Birmingham Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett said. “Our detectives are charged with walking down actual credible evidence that can be presented in a court of law. That evidence has to be legitimate, it has to be verified, so it does take an amount of time for us to verify the information and the tips that come in.”

Anitra Holloman was one of the four people killed on September 21, 2024, outside of Hush Lounge. Her mom says having two more men arrested in her daughter’s murder is a gift in more ways than one.

“It’s a great present to Anitra as well because, like I said about today being her birthday, that was like a present to her,” Holloman’s mom, Candance Kemp, said.

Holloman would have turned 22 years old on March 20, 2025.

“I’m still trying to grasp the fact that she’s gone,” Kemp said. “Some days I ask myself, just like, ‘this can’t be real,’ like, ain’t no way that this is real, my baby is gone.”

Kemp says she feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders knowing that three men are behind bars for the shooting that took her daughter away from her.

“Like, a big relief, you know? Probably me walking around in the city knowing that it was people, or possibly more people, out here that murdered my child,” she said.

Six months after the shooting, police say it’s still under investigation.

“Up until the time the DA’s office sets, the judge has set this for trial, our investigators literally do not stop working. They don’t stop doing interviews, they don’t stop analyzing evidence, so it is quite possible that more arrests could come up to that date,” Pickett said. “There could be more arrests but at this time, we don’t have enough evidence to charge anyone else.”

Kemp says it makes her feel better knowing people are still looking for answers.

“Sometimes they do make us feel like they don’t be working for us, but when I talk to the detective and everything, he calls and talks, it lets me know they are kind of pressing this issue to get the other person that’s involved because they say it’s four shooters,” Kemp said. “So, I think I’ll probably get more rest when I know the other person has been accounted for murdering my daughter.”

Kemp says she’s starting a foundation in her daughter’s honor to help children who have lost one or both parents to gun violence, like her 2-year-old granddaughter. She hopes to have it up and running by September 21, the one-year anniversary of the shooting.