A grieving family hopes a short video clip released Tuesday will help identify a shooter who killed a man on Christmas Eve in what detectives believe was an act of road rage.
Danny Kelly Jr., of Clinton, Maryland, was shot in Temple Hills as he drove to a Christmas Eve dinner with his girlfriend and their three children. He was 30 and had planned to restart his career as a boxer.
“Our family, our community is missing a great father, a great son, brother, leader and member of the boxing community,” Kelly’s cousin Simone Deloatch said at a news conference Tuesday.
Prince George’s County police released a little more than a minute of video footage showing an SUV suspected to have been used in the crime in the 4400 block of St. Barnabas Road. It’s possibly a 2007-2009 dark blue GMC Envoy. The video of the driver passing cars stopped in traffic was taken shortly after the shooting, police said.
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“If you know anything about the vehicle, this would definitely bring closure to the family. This is the second son that my aunt has lost. This is a very hard time for the family,” Deloatch said.
Officers responded to St. Barnabas Road, south of Branch Avenue, at about 4:40 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Kelly was taken to a hospital, where he died. His girlfriend and their children were not injured.
“This is another senseless, tragic act of gun violence, for no reason,” Maj. David Blazer said. “The person who’s responsible for this had no regard for anybody that was on the road that day.”
Kelly was known as “Smooth” in the boxing ring. He went 10-3-1 in a career that spanned seven years. He won his last fight, in 2019 at Maryland Live.
“He was a heavyweight champion, but he was also a gentle giant,” his cousin said. “He made our family events very much exciting because of his zeal for life.”
Anyone with information on the shooting or who recognizes the SUV is asked to contact police. A reward of up to $30,000 is offered.
