A Birmingham man, now charged with murder, is accused of fatally shooting his co-worker in the head as they traveled on Interstate 565 in Huntsville on Thursday morning.

Martez Jermain Haynes became Huntsville’s first homicide victim of 2019 when he died at the hospital Thursday evening, police confirmed Friday. Haynes was a 34-year-old from Birmingham.

Charged in the fatal shooting is Haynes’ co-worker 27-year-old Justin Daniel Watts. The men were riding in a company van with four others when the shooting happened.

“Witnesses in the van said they heard the gunshot and then Mr. Watts stated that the victim had shot himself,” Lt. Michael Johnson said in a news release. The van driver pulled onto the shoulder of the interstate near the Zierdt Road overpass.

When a 911 caller reported an attempted suicide, officers from Huntsville and Madison went to the scene. Watts was there with a gun and told officers that he “shot the man” and wanted a lawyer, according to a Huntsville police statement.

Johnson said police haven’t identified a motive for the killing. So far, he said, investigators haven’t found any connections with criminal activity involving the slain man, the suspect or the business for which they worked. Police haven’t released the name of the business, which they identified as a Birmingham-area cleaning company.

If convicted of murder, Watts faces up to life in prison. He is held in the Madison County jail with bail set at $75,000.

The case is Huntsville’s first homicide investigation of 2019. Last year, at least 27 people died in homicides in the city, an increase from 22 slayings in 2017.

Updated at 2:23 p.m. to correct the spelling of Haynes' name. Police initially released an incorrect spelling of his name.