ATLANTA — The mother of 7-year-old Kennedy Maxie, who was hit and killed by a stray bullet fired near Phipps Plaza days before Christmas in 2020, said the murder conviction of the man who fired that shot was like moving a "dark cloud out of the sky" for the family.
"This doesn’t change the fact that I’ll continue to eat breakfast at a cemetery every Sunday morning. Or that she won’t have the opportunity to be a big sister. Nor does it change me missing her beyond comprehension, in some moments beyond what I can bear," Mariah Maxie said of the guilty verdict delivered against Daquan Reed on all eight charges he faced.
"But it does move a dark cloud out of the sky for those that love her today, and for that I am grateful.”
The verdict was handed down on Thursday, after a nearly weeklong trial.
In a statement sent to 11Alive's Joe Henke after the guilty verdict, the mom thanked the jury for "delivering a verdict today of justice based on truth and fact."
"Thank you for seeing to my family receiving justice for my daughter’s life being stolen," she said.
Perhaps the most emotional moment of the trial came on its first day, when Mariah Maxie herself testified about the moment she discovered her daughter had been shot.
She said her daughter was "incredibly animated" and so "at first I thought she was like, playing with us."
"She was unresponsive, she was like hunched over - I was trying to get her to sit up and I was calling her name... then I noticed that she was bleeding," she said.
In her testimony, the mother described the moment of discovering the blood on her daughter.
"When I got in the back I was trying to sit her up, so blood was getting on my hands, I started to try to find where she was hurt from," the mom said. "At one point of trying to get her to sit up and respond to me, I touched the back right side behind her ear and she winced in pain."
"Did you understand what had happened?" she was asked on the witness stand.
"I knew that she had been shot," she replied.
After surgery to relieve swelling in Kennedy's brain and several days in the hospital, on Christmas Day 2020 doctors performed the first part of a test for brain death in Kennedy.
"And after, on December 26, what happened after the test?" attorneys for the prosecution asked Mariah.
"She was declared brain dead," she said. "And then that was kind of the final, like, that was just final."
In her statement after the verdict, the mother thanked the medical team for "how diligent and meticulous they were in caring for her."
You can read her full statement below.
Maria Maxie's full statement after conviction in killing of daughter Kennedy Maxie
These last 5 days have been incredibly hard. It’s the second time in my life where I’ve had to trust other people with my child’s life. Where I’ve had no direct say in the outcome.
When Kennedy was in the hospital, I was in awe of the team of doctors and nurses responsible for her care. I was so grateful for how they took care of my baby. For how focused they were in their work; for how diligent and meticulous they were in caring for her. They worked hard for her. They worked even knowing that Kennedy’s life in the end was not up to them.
To Pat (Dutcher), Daysha (Young) and the extended team of the DA’s office. I thank you. I thank you for taking care of my baby. For working hard for her. For being meticulous and diligent in your work. For being thoughtful and passionate. For defending the ground of this case of justice for her life, knowing the final word would not come from you-all.
To the jurors, thank you for delivering a verdict today of justice based on truth and fact. Thank you for seeing to my family receiving justice for my daughter’s life being stolen.
This doesn’t change the fact that I’ll continue to eat breakfast at a cemetery every Sunday morning. Or that she won’t have the opportunity to be a big sister. Nor does it change me missing her beyond comprehension, in some moments beyond what I can bear.
But it does move a dark cloud out of the sky for those that love her today, and for that I am grateful.