Police arrested a suspect Wednesday night in a shooting spree across Memphis, Tenn. that left four people dead and at least three others wounded.
Ezekiel Dejuan Kelly, 19, was detained around 9 p.m. local time after authorities chased after a stolen car he was driving, which he later crashed, according to Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis. The alleged killer had a recidivist record, with multiple felony charges pending against him.
A repeat offender, Kelly was charged with attempted first-degree murder but had it downgraded to aggravated assault in a plea bargain in April 2021, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said during a press briefing. He was sentenced to three years in prison but was released eleven months later, Strickland said.
An arrest warrant on the charge of first-degree murder was already approved for Kelly on Wednesday before he committed the string of shootings, court records obtained by Memphis ABC affiliate WATN show.
“The homicide division and other investigative units are actively working these crime scenes now, and numerous felony charges are pending,” Davis told reporters early Thursday.
Kelly’s all-day rampage, which spanned from early Wednesday at 12:56 a.m. to about 8:30 p.m., consisted of several shootings across town that killed four people and injured at least another three, police said.
The gunman live streamed one of the killings on Facebook. A video of the incident that was circulated widely on social media shows Kelly walking into an AutoZone and firing two shots at a man inside the store.
“It’s at least eight [crime scenes],” David said. “We are still in the throes of the investigation. There could potentially be other locations. There could potentially be other damage in other places.” In one such incident, Kelly started shooting inside a store on Jackson Avenue before 6 p.m., the police chief said.
The suspect has also been accused of carjacking two drivers at gunpoint as he attempted to evade police. He escaped in a Dodge Challenger he stole and left behind an SUV stolen from a woman he had fatally shot earlier that night, according to the police chief.
“I want to assure the public that we’re all going to be working together to try to curb this senseless violence here in Memphis and Shelby County,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said at the press conference.
* Article from: The National Review
