MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Police in Memphis, Tennessee, said a man who drove around the city shooting at people, killing four, during an hours-long rampage that forced frightened people to shelter in place Wednesday, has been arrested. Ezekiel Kelly, 19, who was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder in 2020, was taken into custody at around 9 p.m. in the Memphis neighborhood of Whitehaven, police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said. Memphis Police Director Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said charges were pending during a news conference early Thursday. Four people were killed and three others were wounded in seven shootings across Memphis, Davis said. The rampage began at 12:56 a.m. Wednesday and continued to about 8:30 p.m. Memphis shooting suspect in custody after police say man killed 4 while driving around
Memphis shootings: A shooting rampage left 4 people dead and 3 wounded, officials say, and a suspect is in custody - CNN This guy was arrested for attempted 1st degree murder in 2020 and served just 11 months. The mayor says the problem is not the police department they are arresting people, the problem is a judicial system that will not punish.
I can only imagine the anguish of the victim’s families knowing their loved one was killed by a recidivist thug who served less than a year for an attempted murder. I saw some media last night indicating that he was indicted on another murder charge just yesterday, and was somehow still on the street. Not sure if this was ever confirmed
I think the mayor is a fainting violet. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's denial-based thinking like his that hinders us from making changes to society to reduce the frequency and magnitude of these events.
Putting thugs in jail is one way of reducing the frequency and magnitude of these events. I want to see you argue against that. I can think of 4 families in Memphis this morning that would disagree with you.
It does nothing for the magnitude. That's silly. I'm saying preventing the initial crimes reduces the frequency. That's a mathematical certainty. Should this criminal have been jailed for life for attempted murder? If not, he'll get out eventually and may commit the same crime. I also dislike his prospective that the judicial system is not punishing enough instead of the corrections system failing to rehabilitate. My hearts go out to the families of the victims. My impulse is to apologize to them for our collective failures to make better, nurturing communities which leads to better people. I acknowledge that I'm unable to change your perspective from a narrow minded, punitive approach that hasn't worked in 60 years. C'est la vie. -- out
Just a wild guess, but if the guy was still in jail *for attempted murder* four people would still be alive.
I'm fine with jailing a person for most of life for "attempted First Degree murder." Attempted murder is worse than murder. It means you meant to do it. Unfortunately, in this country, we punish the result more than the intent. I don't believe in rehabilitation for people who commit certain types of crimes. You stab someone in a drug deal gone wrong, sure give that person a chance at rehabilitation. You literally kidnap a person, put a stranger in a car at knife point: prison is where you belong.
deterrent - a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something. Potential incarceration may serve as a deterrent but actually being incarcerated is a prohibition.
I think if you attempt to kill an innocent person you should be locked up for life. That is what prison is for. The incarceration issue is not for murder and violent crime. That issue is that our prisons are full of non violent offenders. My cousin was murdered last week in Jacksonville by a multiple time (homeless) felon just released. (Anyone in that area may have seen the news about a contractor killed in a house he was working on.). That person should have never seen the light of day and now my cousin who was the closest thing I ever had to a brother is gone. Stop incarcerating small drug crimes or theft if need be, but stop letting violent people run free, especially when they are released back into a society that they cant function in. The guy in Canada was a repeat loser too.
Yes. It would. The drawback is the cost of $45K/year for lifelong sentences (CA). If this dude lives til 70, that would equate to 2.3 million dollars. Multiply that by all of the attempted and actual murders a year and we're talking about some real money. The fact that only 2.7% of released homicide criminals go on to commit murder again complicates the cost/benefit tradeoff.
