Memphis Lunatic Who Went On Shooting Rampage Had Been Released Early From Prison

Published|Updated

Ezekiel Kelly, the Memphis gunman suspected of shooting and killing four people and injuring at least three others on Wednesday, should not have been on the streets. The 19-year-old maniac was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 but was released early.

Kelly's rampage spread across at least eight different crime cities around Memphis. He live streamed one of the shootings on Facebook, with a video showing him walking into an AutoZone and shooting the first person he sees in the store.

The city of Memphis, one with over 630,000 residents, was warned to shelter in place as the gunman drove through various areas of town randomly shooting at people. The terror finally came to an end just after 9:00 PM on Wednesday when Kelly was arrested after crashing a stolen car.

This horrible act of violence should not have happened seeing as how Kelly should have been behind bars.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland - a Democrat serving since 2016 - shared during his press conference on Wednesday that Kelly was charged with attempted first-degree murder but pled guilty to downgraded charges in April of 2021.










c67d3bc4-

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland (D)



Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison but was released in March 2022 after serving just 11 months of his three-year sentence. This ridiculous shooting rampage came less than six months after Kelly was allowed back on the streets of Memphis.

"If Mr. Kelly served his full three-year sentence, he would still be in prison today and four of our fellow citizens would still be alive," Strickland stated. "These evil actions show why truth in sentencing is a must, and we should do all we can to make our city safe."




Memphis Needs A Break From Violence


Kelly's heinous act of violence came less than 48 hours after Eliza Fletcher's body was found. Fletcher, a Memphis teacher and mother of two, was abducted while jogging in the early morning of Sept. 2.

A body was found the night of Sept. 5 before being identified as Fletcher in the early morning of Sept. 6. Kelly began shooting people around the city of Memphis at around 4:30 PM on Sept. 7.

Memphis reporter Joyce Peterson summed up the emotions in the city of Memphis at the moment:







Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.