Polk Sheriff's Office charges Davenport man with murder in Sunday road-rage shooting

A Davenport man faces a second-degree murder charge for allegedly shooting another driver in a road rage incident early Sunday morning.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced Wednesday that deputies had arrested Daniele Hamilton of Westwinds Drive in Davenport on Tuesday. The arrest culminated an investigation that began after an emergency call at about 2:15 a.m. on Sunday led to the finding of Kevin Berry, who lay in an off ramp from Interstate 4 with a gunshot wound to the head.

Berry, 58, of Altamonte Springs, was declared legally dead on Tuesday, though he remained on artificial support so that his organs could be harvested, Judd said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The incident occurred on the off ramp from westbound I-4 to southbound U.S. 27 near Davenport. Judd said that video recorded by security cameras at nearby businesses and red-light cameras led deputies to Hamilton’s home. Cameras captured video of the incident, in which both Hamilton and Berry stopped their vehicles on the ramp’s turning lanes and yelled at each other before the shooting, Judd said.

The sheriff showed an image of Hamilton’s vehicle, a silver, four-door sedan. He said that footage showed the vehicle moving into Hamilton’s neighborhood. Investigators went door to door in the area until they found Hamilton at home, Judd said.

Hamilton, 58, at first claimed he had been home at the time of the incident, Judd said. The Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant, and a search of Hamilton’s home found a pistol under his pillow with three empty chambers. Detectives also found three shell casings in a trash can, Judd said.

“We absolutely anticipate this gun is going to match the ballistics on the bullet, once we’re able to retrieve it from the victim’s head,” Judd said.

Hamilton made admissions as deputies questioned him before ending the interview, Judd said.

“You’ve found what you need to find so we can go (to jail),” Hamilton said, according to a PCSO news release.

Detectives took Hamilton into custody and booked him into the Polk County Jail.

The circumstances of the shooting do not support a possible claim of self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, Judd said. The bullet passed through the passenger’s side of Berry’s truck and out the driver’s side before striking Berry, who was standing beside the vehicle, Judd said.

Berry was driving to his job at a trucking company located near the highway interchange, Judd said. He said Hamilton is also a professional truck driver.

The 911 call Sunday morning came from another driver who had maneuvered around Berry’s and Hamilton’s vehicles as the drivers argued on the off ramp, Judd said.

Hamilton was arrested at least seven times between 1986 and 2013 in Florida, Georgia and Texas, PCSO said. The charges include disorderly conduct, forgery and battery. Judd said he did not know the outcome of those arrests.

If previously convicted of a felony, Hamilton was not allowed to own a gun.

“Now, folks, I want to underscore this is the ugly end to road rage,” Judd said. “This man (Berry) is dead. This man (Hamilton) is locked up in jail for second-degree murder at this moment in time because of road rage.”

The Sheriff’s Office is still seeking any other witnesses to the incident.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Davenport man charged with murder in Sunday road-rage shooting