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       After the defense attorney and prosecutors both submitted their arguments at a Thursday afternoon sentencing hearing, all eyes in the packed courtroom turned to Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge DaNeeka Varner Cotton.

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       She shuffled through some paperwork before looking toward Markell Lewis, who had been found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder and related counts in the fatal shooting of boxer Danny Kelly Jr. on Christmas Eve in 2021. The father had been driving to a dinner from holiday shopping with his fiancée and three children when Lewis opened fire from his car in a fit of road rage, prosecutors said.

       Cotton said that in all her years as a judge, this case was “the most egregious.” She said Christmas Eve is a holiday many “associate with love, fellowship and memories.” Lewis has now made the holiday a date the family “will dread,” she added.

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       “He did nothing to deserve this,” Cotton said. “But you in your anger … you took the life of an innocent man.”

       Choosing to deviate upward from the sentencing guidelines, Cotton issued a sentence of 80 years to Lewis, who was also convicted of first-degree assault and use of a firearm by someone who has been disqualified, among other counts. Lewis has a prior burglary conviction from 2016, according to the judge.

       Man charged with murder in Christmas Eve road rage shooting

       Prince George’s County police officers had responded to St. Barnabas Road in the Temple Hills area on Christmas Eve two years ago and found Kelly, 30, of Clinton, Md., wounded in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck, according to charging documents. His fiancée and three children were in the truck when he lost control and his fiancée had to “intervene and bring it to a stop,” on a southbound ramp before calling the authorities, the charging documents said.

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       Kelly was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

       Before the shooting, a dark blue car had “made an abrupt lane change in front of him” and there was a “brief verbal exchange” between Kelly and the person in the car, a car later linked to Lewis, then 25, of Clinton, according to the charging documents.

       Victoria Adegoke, assistant state’s attorney, said during the hearing that Lewis had fired at least three shots into Kelly’s truck, with one going through the rear passenger side the children were seated.

       Lewis declined to address the judge after his defense attorney Antoini Jones concluded his arguments. Jones said that he advised Lewis not to accept responsibility for the crime because his statements could be used against him during his appeal. Jones noted that the 9mm handgun recovered from Lewis, which was not admitted in evidence, did not match the bullets presented during the trial.

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       Cotton said she would not consider any evidence that was not admitted.

       Jones asked the judge to sentence Lewis to 35 years, with all but 20 suspended to combine “justice with mercy.” He argued that harsh sentences that were once routine are “being reduced.”

       The judge disagreed, saying this was a rare case. She had read the letters submitted in Lewis’s defense, including that he had a daughter. And while Lewis’s daughter will be able to visit him in prison, Kelly’s children won’t be able to see him again, Cotton said.

       In Courtroom 2411, the sound of Kelly’s family members breathing heavily and sniffling filled the room. Marcerto Simms, Kelly’s aunt, spoke on behalf of the family and asked to address Lewis directly.

       “What you have done has caused so much disarray,” she said. “My family has nightmares, depression … and the children are messed-up psychologically.” The kids scream at night, she said, choking up.

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       Outside of Prince George’s County Circuit Courthouse following the sentencing, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy stood with Kelly’s family and prosecutors. During the news conference, Braveboy shined a light on Kelly’s life, in and out of the boxing ring.

       “Our community lost a hero. He was an accomplished and respected professional heavyweight boxer, known as ‘Smooth,’” Braveboy said. “He was undefeated in the ring, and as a son, fiancé, father, nephew, cousin, friend, and human being.”

       Andrea West, a cousin of Kelly’s fiancée, expressed the pain her “sister cousin” and Kelly’s children are enduring.

       “It’s been rough, it’s been hard. It’s been nights where I’ve been up with her at two or three o’clock in the morning because she can’t sleep. I hear kids screaming, yelling, acting out. It’s taking a toll on the family,” West said. Her cousin is now “a single mom by force,” she added.

       Kelly’s 11-year-old daughter, stood next to her mom dressed in a blue tie-dye shirt. She said that she will remember her father being a loving dad who was full of energy and bounced with her on the trampoline.

       “He was a supportive person and always brought fun to the family,” she said.

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