Authorities have released the names of a young couple gunned down on a Birmingham street Monday night.

The victims have been identified as 19-year-old Ty Alexander Pepper and 18-year-old Elizabeth "Liz" Annette Price. Both had previously attended Clay Chalkville High School.

Pepper and Price were standing on the northwest corner of 12th Street and 12th Avenue North in Fountain Heights when someone approached them and opened fire. Police arrived on the scene to find them both shot multiple times.

The couple was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:54 p.m.

Sgt. Bryan Shelton said the preliminary investigation revealed Pepper had returned home from work and met Price up the street on the corner. Shortly after that, multiple gunshots were heard and both victims were found deceased on the sidewalk.

He said investigators don't believe the killings were random. "Both victims barely entered adulthood and lost the chance to experience life,'' Shelton said. "While on scene, you felt like the suspect had no value for them at all. Sad situation all around."

Pepper was living with his aunt in Fountain Heights. Price had moved back home with her father in eastern Jefferson County.

Price's sister, Aubrie Price, said she dropped her off at the 12th Avenue location so she could see Pepper. The two had been dating for about a year.

Aubrie Price told her sister she was going to get gas and would be back to pick her up because they had to get back to their father's house, where they both lived. "Ty gave me money to go to the gas station,'' she said. "When I dropped her off, I said, 'Be ready because we have to get back home.'''

Aubrie Price returned to flashing blue lights and crime scene tape. She approached Pepper's aunt, and that when she learned both had been shot and killed. "I was shocked,'' she said. "If I'd even had a gut feeling something was going to happen, I wouldn't have taken her over there."

"I don't know who would have done this or why,'' she said. "Liz didn't have trouble with anybody. I still don't believe it."

Aubrie Price said her sister was sweet and smart. She was about to start a new job at a fast-food restaurant and had plans to get her driver's license and buy a car. "She had it all planned out, but she was going to start small,'' she said. "She was really trying to get a better life. She just wanted to do better for herself."

Pepper and Price are the city's 14th and 15th homicides so far this year. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.