POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Daniele Hamilton, 58, of Davenport, was arrested Tuesday for fatally shooting Kevin Berry, 58, during a road rage incident this weekend.

“This is the ugly end to road rage. This man is dead. This man is locked up for second degree murder at this moment in time because of road rage,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, gesturing to photos of Berry and Hamilton during a media briefing Wednesday. 

Judd said Berry was on his way from his Altamonte Springs home to his job as a truck driver early Sunday morning when the incident occurred. At least one witness reported seeing Berry and his white truck stopped in the middle lane of the I-4 off-ramp to U.S. Highway 27 in Davenport. The sheriff’s office said he appeared to be arguing with someone in a car behind the truck and in the right lane. Berry was later found lying on the ground near his truck with a gunshot wound to the head.

“Shock, dismay, sadness, anger,” said Berry’s friend, Terri Kunau, of her reaction to hearing about the shooting.

Kunau said she knew Berry for over 45 years. Their fathers worked at the same parochial boarding school, and Kunau said she, Berry, and his brother were the only kids left on campus in the summer.

“A teddy bear of a guy,” Kunau said when asked to describe Berry. “He’s the guy you call when you need help, and if it’s at all possible, he’ll be there for you.”

Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Kevin Berry was on his way from his Altamonte Springs home to his job as a truck driver early Sunday morning when he became engaged in an argument and was shot on an I-4 off ramp. (Courtesy of Terri Kunau)

Judd said Berry was declared legally dead Tuesday, with his body kept on a respirator as of Wednesday afternoon because his organs are being donated.

According to the sheriff, video evidence from red light cameras and stores along U.S. Highway 27 helped lead detectives to Hamilton.

“One of the cameras near that intersection showed a conflict. It also recorded sound, and we could hear two gun shots. We could also hear people screaming at each other,” Judd said.

The sheriff said Hamilton at first claimed to have been at home at the time of the shooting, but in addition to the video evidence, investigators found a .38 special revolver in his bedroom and spent shell casings in the trash. Judd said he’s confident the bullet that killed Berry will be a match. Hamilton reportedly said to detectives, “You’ve found what you need to find, so we can go [to jail].”

“It’s a relief to know that he’s been arrested, but I don’t think until the justice system has done what they’re supposed to do and he is sent away for murder, I don’t think it’ll be over until then,” Kunau said.

Judd said it’s unknown who started the road rage incident, but the encounter destroyed two lives.

“When you’re involved in road rage, you can see this is how it can end up,” Judd said. “So, we tell everyone, take a deep breath, back away, don’t let the guy who’s aggressive get under your skin. No good outcome occurs, whether you tear your cars up, you fight in the street, or one or both of you end up shot and killed.”

“He forgot, you know - sticks and stones - and let his temper get the best of him,” Kunau said of Berry. “But even so, that’s no excuse for someone to pull a gun and shoot him and leave him to die in the middle of the road.”

A similar incident happened in Plant City in April. Elizabeth Arrieta, 29, was killed and her friend was injured after they were shot while driving on I-4.

Judd said while detectives encounter cases of road rage every day, fatalities like the one in Davenport are rare in Polk County. But a report from Everytown Research & Policy suggests these incidents are becoming more common. It states injuries and deaths from road rage incidents involving guns increased every year since 2018, with deaths rising from 70 that year to 141 in 2022. Injuries rose from 176 in 2018 to 413 in 2022. The southern U.S. saw the highest rates of road rage shootings.

“We do not definitively know what is driving this persistent increase in road rage shootings,” the authors wrote. “The pandemic and its continuing effects have brought all kinds of new stressors into people’s lives. In addition, the record increases in gun sales that started in 2020 could be a factor. This analysis suggests that gun safety policies — particularly those that require a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public — protect our communities from road rage shootings.” 

Like Judd, Kunau also urged drivers not to engage in situations that could escalate on the road.

“Let it go,” she said. “You never know who that person is that has a gun and is going to get out of their car and shoot you dead.”

Hamilton is charged with second degree murder, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, shooting over a right-of-way, and tampering with evidence.