The trial for Ezekiel Kelly, the man accused of a deadly shooting spree that shook Memphis in 2022, has faced yet another postponement, raising further delays for a case already marked by weighty charges and a complex pool of evidence. Originally slated for a July 14 trial date, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones, Jr. granted the defense's motion to push back, setting the stage for a new timeline to be established on that day, in what ensures the capital case is "tried appropriately, correctly the first time and not have this be a situation in which we rush into the trial for the sake of having it tried only to end up having to try it a second time because of some error," the Commercial Appeal reported.
Kelly's defense team, citing the need for thorough preparation and review of a substantial body of evidence, filed a 15-page motion that resulted in the postponement, pointing out the complexities involved and their ongoing effort to speak with hundreds of potential witnesses, "Potentially upwards of 400 people that we're trying to talk to. At least a quarter of those we believe to be highly relevant to the case," Michael Scholl, Kelly's attorney, told FOX13, making clear the defense's position on the time required for case readiness and highlighting their view of the case's complexity, composed of multiple incidents and victims.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the high-profile case where Kelly faces 28 charges, including three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of DeWayne "Amir" Tunstall, Richard Clark, and Allison Parker; the alleged spree also included a series of wounding shootings and a carjacking, leading to a historic "Shelter in place" order in Memphis, as described by Action News 5.
On May 23, Scholl emphasised the defense's exhaustive review process, involving "924 pages of discovery, 346 videos, numerous photographs and several thousand jail calls as well as statements taken over seven different crime scenes across state lines," a formidable task for any legal team faced with defending such serious allegations; it's a task that appears to add to the trial's time horizon, drawing attention to the procedural demands associated with capital cases, as further outlined in the motion submitted by Kelly's defense team reported by the Commercial Appeal. The delays, as defense and prosecution wrangle over the trial's timeline, leave victims' families in the continuance of the wait for a resolution, with each postponement another page in an already too-long chapter of anguish and waiting for justice.
