A man accused of a deadly 2022 shooting in Memphis will go on trial in July

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man who faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in a daylong shooting rampage that paralyzed Memphis and left three people dead and three others injured will be tried in July, a judge said Friday.

Ezekiel Kelly has pleaded not guilty to more than two dozen state charges related to the September 2022 mass shooting that led to a citywide shelter-in-place order and a frantic manhunt.

Judge James Jones Jr. During a brief hearing, he scheduled Kelly’s trial for July 14.

Kelly, 22, was charged with the deaths of Dewayne Tunstall, Richard Clark and Allison Parker. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said at a March 2023 press conference that prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if Kelly is found guilty of first-degree murder.

Mulroy listed the factors that led to the decision to seek the death penalty; these included that this was a random mass shooting and that Kelly had a previous conviction for aggravated assault.

At least three witnesses saw Kelly shoot Tunstall during a gathering at a home in Memphis around 1 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2022, according to a police affidavit. Clark and Parker were shot later the same day while Kelly was driving around Memphis and livestreaming some of his activities, authorities said.

Police announced that 3 more people were injured in the attacks. The indictment also charges Kelly with reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, committing a terrorist act, theft of property and evading arrest.

The shootings led to the shutdown of Memphis’ public bus system, the quarantine of two college campuses and the suspension of a minor league baseball game.

Authorities said Kelly hijacked at least two vehicles before being arrested after crashing a stolen car while running from police.

Police initially said four people died but later revised the total to three after investigators determined that one of the deaths was not related to the attack.

The violence unfolded just months after Kelly was released early from a three-year prison sentence for a pair of shootings in 2020.

In February of that year, Kelly, then 17, was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder and other crimes in two shootings that occurred several hours apart. Both victims survived but did not cooperate with prosecutors, and Kelly agreed to have the aggravated assault charges dropped in April 2021, according to court records.

Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison but was released after serving just over two years, including credit for time spent in prison before his plea.

Relatives told The Associated Press that Parker was a mother of three who worked as a medical assistant at a clinic in West Memphis, Arkansas.

After retiring from his career as a corrections officer, Clark worked as a campus security officer at Christian Brothers University.