Canton residents hold candlelight vigil for neighbor killed in carjacking gone wrong
BALTIMORE -- Canton residents lit candles in honor of Darrell Benner on Friday night.
Benner, 57, was shot and killed on South Curley Street on August 18 while trying to help his nephew who had just been carjacked near O'Donnell Square Park—the community's hub for food, drinks, and meetups.
That nephew, Jeffrey Tyree, described the terrifying moments to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
"They stopped me and waved the gun in my face and just told me to give them everything I had," Tyree said. "I gave them my car keys. I gave them my phone, my wallet. I'm a father. My kids are more important than a $30,000 car or a $1,400 phone. That doesn't matter to me. I'll get that stuff back."
That's when Benner showed up with a BB gun. He tried to ward off the masked individuals before they shot him.
Come daybreak, neighbors began consoling each other after learning about what had happened.
"There was still blood on the street and some neighbors were cleaning up the blood and scrubbing the blood and washing it away," one neighbor said.
Benner's family wants the Baltimore Police Department to find his killer or for that person to turn themselves in to the authorities.
"All I want is justice for his murder," Victoria Benner said. "It was a senseless act. All he had was a stupid BB gun, and you shot at him four times. Just turn yourself in. Do the right thing. Let me try to get on with my life without my husband. That's all I want."
