Fatal Shooting Of Kennedy Maxie: Atlanta Police Name Suspect

BUCKHEAD, GA — Atlanta police obtained a warrant for the arrest of a suspect in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie, who was hit by a stray bullet while Christmas shopping with her family near Phipps Plaza in Buckhead last week.

Atlanta Police Department Lt. Pete Malecki said in a news conference Dec. 29 — eight days after Kennedy was shot and three days after her death — that 24-year-old Daquan Reed is wanted on several charges: felony murder; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of a firearm during a crime; and reckless conduct.

"Although we still have a lot of work to do to apprehend Mr. Reed and then prepare this case for litigation, it's our hope that this will provide at least a sliver of relief to Kennedy's family," Malecki said during the news conference.

Reed has not been arrested yet, but police are working to bring him into custody, according to interim police Chief Rodney Bryant. Officials did not clarify how Reed was identified as a suspect.

"Difficult is not a strong enough word to describe what 2020 has been like for our city and our country," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said during the news conference. "Far too many of our children have been victims of gun violence and countless families have mourned the loss of loved ones this year — mourning not just those lost to COVID-19, but to the senseless violence that we are seeing across our city, across our state and across our country."

Maxie was shot in the back of the head Dec. 21 by a stray bullet while riding in a car with her mother and aunt near Phipps Plaza; however, investigators still do not believe the family's vehicle was the intended target of the shooting. Maxie was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where she was in critical condition until she died of her injuries Dec. 26.

The 7-year-old's death comes less than six months after 8-year-old Secoriea Turner was fatally shot while riding in a car with her mother, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Turner was shot July 4 near the now-burned Wendy's restaurant where Rayshard Brooks had been killed by an Atlanta police officer in June.