Shooting death on Cedar Avenue under investigation

ALBANY — Nineteen-year-old Darrius Keys was shot and killed Tuesday on Cedar Avenue in Albany, according to the Albany Police Department.

Keys, who was from Camilla, died at the hospital at approximately 5:52 p.m. from a gunshot wound, according to APD spokeswoman Phyllis Banks.

Banks said a call came in around 3:54 p.m. and officers responded in emergency mode to a shooting incident at 1013 Cedar Ave. Keys was found slumped over with a gunshot wound to his head in the passenger seat of a black Honda Accord parked in front of Building 6 at the Cedar Avenue Apartments.

Multiple agencies responded, including APD Uniform Officers, APD Gang Unit, APD Investigations, DOCO Sheriff’s Office, DCP Uniform Officers and EMS. Keys was removed from the vehicle and transported to the hospital, according to officials.

Reports indicate that, upon arrival, officers noticed two black males with dreadlocks, one around 5-foot-7 and the other between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9, leaving the scene running. The subjects were last seen running south behind the apartments.

“Brandon Hallman, age 19, has been charged with tampering with evidence and party to a crime in the shooting death of 19-year-old Darrius Keys,” said Banks. “He was picked up in Camilla by the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office and brought back to Albany around 10 p.m.”

The case remains under investigation by the Albany Police Department’s Robbery/Homicide Unit and the Albany Police Department’s Gang Unit.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Albany Police Department at (229) 431-2100 or Crimestoppers at (229) 436-TIPS (8477).