Atlanta police say they captured a suspect connected with the death of 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie, a Georgia girl who was hit and killed by an apparent stray bullet after Christmas shopping with her family.
What We Know:
- According to Steve Avery, Atlanta Police Department officer, investigators worked with U.S. Marshals to capture 24-year-old Daquan Reed in Hampton Roads, located in Virginia, on Wednesday. Reed awaits extradition to Georgia.
- “We are very appreciative of work our investigators and the U.S. Marshals put into locating and apprehending Mr. Reed,” Avery wrote in a statement. Officers stated on Dec. 29, they had a warrant for Reed’s arrest to face murder and gun charges.
- When news revealed that a stray bullet had killed a young girl in a significant business district, it shook Atlanta’s city, which saw a growth in killings and deaths in 2020.
“As of the end of the week 52 reporting period, we are at 154 homicides compared with 99 for the same period of 2019,” Avery mentioned in a statement. “That is an increase of 61%.”
- Kennedy’s aunt informed police that on Dec. 21, she was driving by Phipps Plaza on Peachtree Road when she heard gunshots. The aunt kept going, and shortly after that, saw that Kennedy was “acting strangely,” according to a police statement. She then noticed that Kennedy was shot and drove Kennedy to the hospital.
- The bullet hit Kennedy on the back of her head, police stated. Kennedy was in a critical state for days before dying due to her injuries on Dec. 26. Some Atlanta city leaders associated Kennedy’s death with their endorsement of a plan to enhance protection and security in Buckhead, the commercial neighborhood where she was shot.
- With the increasing violence, a combination of business and civic leaders in Buckhead are taking matters into their own hands. With the aid of fundraising efforts, private police officers in January are programmed to begin patrols in the district, part of a larger “Buckhead Security Plan” unveiled earlier this month.
The plan entails increasing and upgrading Buckhead’s use of cameras and license plate readers, developing radio communication within the Atlanta Police Department and neighborhood security patrols, suggesting rewards for information about crimes, and helping officer recruitment and retention.
