Man Who Livestreamed Shooting Spree Receives Three Life Sentences

Ezekiel Kelly was given three life sentences, plus 221 years, on Wednesday (Aug. 13) after accepting a plea deal on over two dozen charges pertaining to a 2022 shooting in Memphis, Tennessee, that left four dead and injured three others.

In exchange for pleading guilty to a staggering 28 charges, which included first-degree murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and carjacking, Kelly will avoid moving forward with a trial that could have led to the death penalty, WREG reported.

"He's truly sorry for what he's done," said Kelly's attorney, Michael Scholl. "He also wants to be true in the fact that, hey, there’s nothing that he can really say or do for the families that will make them feel any better, or different towards him or any other but the only one thing he could do was go ahead and do this plea and put closure to this case."

The plea deal received the approval of the victims' families.

The trial was scheduled to begin in July, but the court granted Scholl's request for a delay, citing the extent of the case.

Kelly was arrested in September 2022 following an hours-long shooting spree across Memphis that he briefly streamed on Facebook Live. An unidentified WREG staff member confirmed the existence of a video posted by Kelly in which he exited a vehicle, walked into an AutoZone, and opened fire. The footage has since been removed from social media.

While officers were in pursuit of Kelly, the then-19-year-old carjacked a woman and shot her, then stole another car in Mississippi before being taken into custody following a standoff in Memphis.

Six months prior to the shooting spree, Kelly was released from jail after serving 11 months on an aggravated assault charge, which carried a three-year sentence. He was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder.