In the early morning hours of October 15, 2016, the life of 23-year-old Quinasia Russell, a female known to her loved ones as 'Nay-Nay,' was tragically cut short. Denver police officers, responding to the sound of gunfire at approximately 2:45 a.m., discovered Russell inside room number 8 of the Airway Motel on Colfax Avenue. She had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time of her death, family members believed she was pregnant.
The initial investigation involved crime scene technicians collecting evidence and detectives seeking surveillance footage from the motel. As news of the young woman's violent death spread, friends and family gathered outside the motel, embracing in their shared grief. In the wake of the shooting, an arrest warrant for first-degree murder was issued for a suspect identified as Brent Kelley.
For nearly six months, the search for Kelley continued. The case saw a significant development on March 30, 2017, when police in Bedford, Texas, located and arrested the 27-year-old suspect on a fugitive warrant. Following his apprehension, Denver police investigators traveled to Texas as part of their ongoing investigation into Russell's murder. Kelley was taken to the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth to await extradition to face the first-degree murder charge against him.
