Authorities have made an arrest following the fatal shooting of seven-year-old Kennedy Maxie.
According to NBC News, police have been on a manhunt for 24-year-old Daquan Reed after a witness came forward to help identify him as a suspect in the Dec. 21 homicide.
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“We are very appreciative of work our investigators and the US Marshals put into locating and apprehending Mr. Reed and we are relieved to know this murderer is no longer roaming anyone’s street,” reads a statement from Atlanta Police, which received help from the US Marshals Service in tracking Reed down.
On Dec. 29 officers announced that they had a warrant for the suspect’s arrest to face murder and gun charges. Reed, who is believed to be from Virginia, is now awaiting extradition back to Atlanta to be formally charged for the crime.
Investigators believe Reed got into a heated argument in the parking lot outside Saks Fifth Avenue at the Phipps Plaza mall in Atlanta. At the time, the young girl and her family were at the same location with plans to do some holiday shopping.
As Reed was leaving the location he allegedly fired three shots outside his car window and police say one of those shots hit Kennedy in the head. Kennedy died five days later on Dec. 26.
Kennedy’s aunt told police that on Dec. 21, she was driving past Phipps Plaza on Peachtree Road when she heard gunshots. The aunt kept driving and shortly thereafter noticed that Kennedy was “acting strangely,” according to a police statement. She then realized that Kennedy had been shot and drove to a hospital.
Maxie is just one of the unfortunate victims in an uptick of homicides in Atlanta, police say.
“As of the end of the week 52 reporting period we are at 154 homicides compared with 99 for the same period of 2019,” Atlanta Police Department officer Steve Avery said in a statement. “That is an increase of 61%.”
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