A Birmingham man convicted of capital murder in the 2018 shooting death of a 55-year-old woman inside her Ensley apartment unexpectedly pleaded guilty to a separate killing of a medical supplies salesman that happened the same year.
A Jefferson County jury on Monday – after a week-long trial – found 32-year-old Cameron Jamar Cook guilty of capital murder in the slaying of 55-year-old Denise Fassel.
After the jury came back with the guilty verdict but prior to the penalty phase starting, Cook’s team approached the state about him pleading guilty to his other murder charge for the death of Justin Lett.
In exchange, Cook escaped the possible death sentence and instead will receive sentences of life-without-parole in both cases.
Circuit Judge Shanta Craig Owens sentenced Cook to life without parole in Fassel’s slaying. Formal sentencing in the Lett case will be held Oct. 31.
Cook was also convicted on several robbery charges that happened the same night as Fassel’s killing.
Assistant District Attorneys Julie McMakin and Neal Zarzour prosecuted Cook. He was defended by attorneys Tiara Hudson, Brittany Mercer and Tim Simonetti.
Fassel was killed on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2019.
It all began at 5:45 p.m. when police say Cook forced his way into an apartment at 2012 Avenue J. Fassel was shot in the torso and pronounced dead on the scene.
From that apartment complex, police said, Cook went to Dollar General at 2007 Avenue H and tried to rob someone of a car but failed.
Then he went to the gas station across the street from the Dollar General and stole a vehicle from another victim.
Cook was taken into custody the following day outside an east Birmingham motel.
The Birmingham Police Department’s Crime Reduction Team received information the suspect was at the Sky Inn on First Avenue North.
When they arrived at the motel and made entry into the room, Cook fled to the back of the motel in an overgrown grassy area. He tripped and fell during his getaway attempt and his gun discharged one time. No one was injured.
Officers were able to handcuff Cook and take him into custody without further incident.
As he was being led to a patrol car for transportation to police headquarters, Cook told AL.com he was being arrested for a traffic ticket.
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Justin Kyle Lett
Lett was killed before Fassel, but Cook wasn’t charged in Lett’s death until two years later.
The 28-year-old Lett, a medical supplies salesman, disappeared after leaving a Southside bar on May 13, 2018. Lett’s body was found in a north Birmingham alley the following day.
Lett was last seen about 2:50 a.m. outside of Marty’s PM on the city’s Southside getting into a white sedan.
Friends and family quickly became worried when they didn’t hear from Lett that Sunday – which was Mother’s Day.
Repeated calls to Lett’s cell phone went unanswered.
While friends and family were searching for him, Birmingham police found Lett about 11:30 a.m. that Monday.
The discovery was made in the alley between Coosa Street and Appalachee Street, near a shed about 60 feet off 11th Avenue North. He had been shot multiple times.
Authorities believe Lett was likely shot somewhere else and his body discarded in the alley.
As part of the agreement, Cook had to tell prosecutors what happened to Lett. Those details have not yet been made public.
Lett’s family attended Cook’s trial in the Fassel case.