Atlanta police say that they have found the man responsible for the shooting death of 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie near a shopping center in Buckhead on Dec. 21.
On Tuesday, the department announced that it secured a warrant for 24-year-old Daquan Reed from Virginia.
According to police, Reed was involved in an argument in the shopping center’s parking lot when he drove off and fired one shot in a “senseless act of rage.” That bullet went through the vehicle that Maxie was riding in and shot her.
Reed, a convicted felon, is now wanted on several charges in connection to Maxie’s death, including felony murder. Police are still unsure why the suspect was in Atlanta or if he has connections there. The fatal incident is the second mall shooting that Reed has been accused of, according to reports.
“We have some information that this is not the first time this young man has been detained in our area,” Bottoms said.
In October 2019, Reed and another man were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Atlanta in connection with a shooting at MacArthur Center Mall in Norfolk, Virginia. That shooting stemmed from a confrontation involving a third man and left that man and a 56-year-old bystander injured.
In January, Reed pleaded guilty to a count of accessory after the fact in connection with the Norfolk mall shooting. According to Norfolk General District Court records, he was sentenced to a year in prison with nine months suspended.
Before the shootings, Reed had “several cycles” in the criminal justice system, including a 2018 conviction for forgery.
Interim Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant said, “We will not allow people to come into our city and victimize our citizens, that’s not who we are.” He said, “But if you choose to come into Atlanta and violate the law, understand, we will come after you.”
During a press conference at Atlanta police headquarters, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms noted that Maxie was not the first child to die of gun violence in Atlanta this year. Bottoms grew emotional as she spoke about the conversation she had with Maxie’s family. The child died from her injury the day after Christmas.
She said, “I know what I’m responsible for in this city, and I take it very seriously, and I take it personally.”
Bottoms revealed several measures that the city was taking to stop and crime and violence in the city, including cracking down on nightclubs that violate capacity limits and operating hours. She says that at “peak times to help focus on crime suppression,” Fulton County will begin putting more sheriff’s deputies to the streets. She said implementing a Top 10 most wanted list has resulted in three arrests since this year’s inception.
“If there are resources that they don’t have, we’ll move mountains to make sure they have what they need,” said Bottoms. “We are working to address the systemic issues that are leading us to this point. It’s not going to be an easy fix.”
Bottoms is currently working to develop a new public safety training academy and recruit and retention officers.
“Morale at the Atlanta Police Department we know has suffered. We know that it is suffering across the country,” said Bottoms. “Being a police officer is a difficult job on a good day. You add the challenges we’ve seen over the past several months, and it makes it that much more challenging.”
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