In the early morning hours of August 18, 2023, the ordinarily peaceful streets of Baltimore's Canton neighborhood were shattered by an act of violence that claimed the life of 57-year-old Darrell L Benner. The fatal encounter began to unfold around 12:25 a.m. in the 1000 block of South Curley Street, just a stone's throw from the popular O'Donnell Square Park.
It was then that Benner's 29-year-old nephew, Jeffrey Tyree, was accosted by three masked individuals who brandished a gun and demanded his belongings.
Having relinquished his car keys, phone, and wallet to the assailants, Tyree's ordeal took a tragic turn when his uncle, Darrell Benner, emerged from his home to help. In an attempt to defend his nephew, Benner confronted the carjackers with what was later described by his family as a BB gun. The suspects responded with lethal force, shooting Benner before fleeing the scene in Tyree's red Dodge Charger. When police and paramedics arrived, they found Benner suffering from a gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The brazen crime left Benner's family heartbroken and pleading for justice. His wife of 34 years, Victoria Benner, recounted hearing the 'pop' of the gunshot from inside their home, unaware of the tragic events unfolding outside. In the wake of the shooting, a memorial of balloons appeared on South Curley Street, a somber tribute from a close-knit community mourning the loss of a man described as a friendly and wonderful neighbor.
Authorities identified the suspects as three unidentified Black males and have sought the public's assistance in their capture. Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland has offered an $8,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and charges in the case. Despite the ongoing investigation and the family's public appeals for the suspects to turn themselves in, no arrests have been made in the killing of Darrell Benner. His widow has expressed her profound grief and the deep sense of loss that has been compounded by the lack of resolution in the case.
