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Courtesy photos / The Pilot Lodge on Ridgewood Avenue (U.S. 1) in Holly Hill the scene of a deadly shooting 4:30 p.m. Saturday, resulting in the death of Donnell Ellis, 19 (in the larger photo), and the near killings of Darshawn Broadwater, Leroy Gadson and Jamie Evans (left to right), in a drive-by involving a black Ford Explorer. Police did not rule out drugs as a possible motive. All the victims except for Evans has an adult arrest record.HOLLY HILL – One young man was killed and three others critically wounded in a drive-by shooting involving a black SUV earlier this afternoon in front of the Pilot Lodge on Ridgewood Avenue, Holly Hill police said.
Donnell Ellis, 19, died from his injuries after being transported to Halifax Medical Center. The three men taken to Halifax Medical Center with critical injuries were 19-year-olds Darshawn Broadwater and Leroy Gadson and 20-year-old Jammie Evans, all from the Daytona Beach area, said police Capt. Stephen Aldrich.
“The shooting occurred in a room, or along the roadway,” Aldrich said. “We’re still trying to determine exactly what happened.”
The Pilot Lodge is a 12-room economy motel in the 1400 block of Ridgewood Avenue. Police were looking for a black sport utility vehicle that pulled up next to the motel at 4:30 p.m., and then someone inside the vehicle fired a semi-automatic handgun.
Police were looking for a black Ford Explorer, reportedly stolen out of Port Orange, bearing Florida plate, 825-MBV, that pulled up next to the motel at 4:30 p.m., during which someone inside the SUV fired a semi-automatic handgun.
Police do not have a motive for the shooting and are not ruling out drugs since all the victims except for Evans has an adult arrest record.
Ellis is the sixth homicide victim so far this year in Volusia County.