Suspect found near
Tallahassee store
after deadly shooting
by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com
BLOUNTSTOWN – An ongoing dispute between two men ended with the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old early Sunday evening in Blountstown.
The victim was rushed to Calhoun-Liberty Hospital with single gunshot wound, where he died despite life-saving efforts by hospital staff.
Kellen Alexander Speights, 21, has been charged with an open count of homicide.
• • •
The victim – who was identified as Daniel Johnson – was at Cooper’s Park with his girlfriend and their child around 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, according to Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory.
“The suspect drove by several times and at some point, the victim decided to walk toward the vehicle that was on Mayhaw Road and fired a gun into the air,” he said. “The victim then continued toward the vehicle, which had stopped. Speights fired eight shots toward Johnson, hitting him at least once in the chest.”
He said 40-caliber shell casings were found at the scene when the victim had fired into the air. About 40 yards down the road, 9-mm shell casings were located at the suspect’s vehicle.
• • •
Speights fled from the scene, driving to Tallahassee where his vehicle was found that night near a Lowe’s store after it was located by an FHP analyst.
Leon County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle as it was leaving the area. The driver fled, leading to a brief pursuit. Speights later abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot before before deputies caught up with him.
Speights is being held at the Leon County Jail, where in addition to the homicide charge, he is facing charges of fleeing and eluding from Leon County deputies.
Agencies assisting the Blountstown Police Department in the investigation include the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the 14th Circuit State Attorney’s Office, and the District 14 Medical Examiner’s Office.
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