Mother seeks answers after son found dead in car during Douglas traffic stop

“He got pulled over for reckless driving ... with my already deceased son in the car,” she told the news station.

According to the sheriff’s office, Mitchell and the driver, who were familiar with each other, met in Douglas for a firearm transaction. Kenya Mitchell told Channel 2 that her son was selling his firearm.

“After the seller received payment and the transaction was completed, a physical struggle broke out inside the vehicle over the control of the purchased firearm,” Pounds said. “During the altercation, the purchaser, who was also the driver of the vehicle, produced a second firearm and fatally shot Malachi Mitchell.”

The driver sped away from the scene after the shooting, believing he was being “set up and possibly followed,” Pounds added. Officials were able to confirm that the driver was in contact with someone during the incident and expressed “fear that he had been set up and that he was being followed.”

Deputies said they stopped the driver a few minutes later for erratic driving near Thornton Road and I-20, and that’s when they discovered Mitchell’s body in the passenger seat.

The driver was taken to the Douglas sheriff’s office for questioning and was released pending the outcome of the investigation, officials said.

“Based on a witnesses' statement, the driver was clearly in a state of panic,” Pounds said.

Still, Kenya Mitchell told Channel 2 that she is anguished the driver got to walk away.

“There’s no way on God’s green earth that anyone can be reckless driving and have a deceased body in the car and walk away within four or five hours,” she said.

Authorities are not releasing the driver’s name due to what they claim are “credible threats” of violence toward him and his family “from a local, criminal street gang.” Deputies are also investigating those threats.