Trial pushed back for “mobile mass shooter”

Death penalty on the table for man whose rampage killed three

By Ralph Hardin

ralphhardin@gmail.com

The lone suspect in a mass shooting that spread across the Mid-South in October of 2022 and saw six people shot — three of them fatally, including a West Memphis woman —was back in court last week, but nearly two years after the “mobile mass shooting,” there has still not been a trial date set in the case.

Ezekiel Kelly, the man officials say carried out the shootings, appeared in court Monday morning. His attorney told Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. that the defense is looking at a few experts to bring to trial and is almost done sifting through evidence.

Part of the delay in the case reaching trial included new attorneys being appointed to defend Kelly. Jennifer Case, from the Shelby County Office of the Public Defender, originally represented him but withdrew due to an unspecified conflict of interest.

Kelly faces the death penalty if he is convicted. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he would seek the death penalty last March. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, including Allison Parker of West Memphis, along with 23 additional charges that include one count of unlawful possession of a gun, three counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, five counts of using a gun while committing a felony, one count of aggravated assault, one count of attempted carjacking, one count of especially aggravated robbery, one count of theft, one count of evading arrest, one count of possessing a prohibited weapon, and one count of committing an act of terror.