In the spring of 2018, a violent encounter at a Selma, Alabama gas station tragically cut short the life of Ernest Weaver Daniels III. On Saturday, April 28th, the 26-year-old male was fatally shot in what authorities described as an ambush. The shooting, which also left two other individuals, 20-year-old Matravius Aaron and 19-year-old Marquavius Benjamin, wounded, is believed to have stemmed from an earlier dispute at a local club.
The investigation into the homicide quickly led Selma
Police to identify four suspects. Two men, 20-year-old Jeffery James Bennett Jr. and 21-year-old Vincent Devonte Ellis, were taken into custody and charged with murder in the days following the shooting. The search for the remaining two suspects, 30-year-old Jimmie Lee Tyus and 21-year-old Darryl Davuntay Kennedy, continued.
The manhunt for Tyus and Kennedy extended beyond Alabama and concluded in August of that year. Acting on a tip, U.S. Marshals, with the assistance of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, located and arrested the two men at a house in Spring Hill, Florida. Both were charged with one count of murder and two counts of assault in connection with the death of Ernest Daniels and the injuries sustained by the other two victims. The arrests brought a close to the search for those believed to be responsible for the deadly gas station shooting.
