Police: Fatal I-15 shooting ‘appeared to be the result of road rage’

Two men accused in a fatal August shooting on Interstate 15 may have been motivated by “road rage,” police said in a newly released report.

Damarion Bell, 18, and Jasahn Lovette, 23, were arrested Friday in connection with the death of 31-year-old Darin Algee, who was driving in the fast lane of the southbound I-15 between the Spring Mountain Road on-ramp and the Flamingo Road off-ramp.

Bell and Lovette face charges including open murder, attempted murder, and possessing, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle.

They appeared in court Thursday morning for a hearing at which they were appointed attorneys: Dewayne Nobles for Lovette and Chief Deputy Special Public Defender Lisa Chamlee-Brainard for Bell.

The Metropolitan Police Department said in a report that at about 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, police received a call from a motorist who had stopped to assist a car that crashed and discovered that the driver might have been shot.

Police found Algee lying in the road next to the passenger side of the car — which Metro said was an Audi — with apparent gunshot wounds to his hip, torso and thighs. Algee was with his 32-year-old wife and 4-year-old son, who were not harmed.

A day later, police said, a detective heard from FedEx Global Security that a FedEx driver had been behind the Audi when the crash happened. The driver’s truck had a camera and police said when they reviewed the video footage, “detectives discovered the shooting appeared to be the result of road rage.”

In the video, according to the report, the Audi drove past the FedEx truck in the left lane at about 8:26. Seconds later, an SUV that appeared to be a Jeep Renegade passed the FedEx truck “at a high rate of speed.”

The circumstances of any conflict between the vehicles are not entirely clear in the report.

Police said the Jeep moved from lane to lane, until it was on the left side of the Audi. The Audi swerved and crashed into the center median, according to Metro, and the Jeep fled.

Metro used cameras and license plate readers to track the Jeep. Police later found a cartridge case in the back seat.

Police said they used phone records and surveillance video to identify Bell and Lovette. Lovette’s DNA was on cigarette butts found in the Jeep, the report alleged.