Uncooperative Danny with Last Name Redacted Factors into Suspension of Investigation Into Gruesome and Deadly 2023 Reno Hit and Run

An extensive police report recently obtained by Our Town Reno in the unresolved gruesome 2023 downtown Reno hit and run killing of 25-year-old Jasmyn Maxwell repeatedly cites a Danny, identified as her then partner, with his last name redacted, who has refused to cooperate.

“The little girl had minor injuries but Jasmyn was caught under the vehicle and dragged for blocks,” a family friend Sylvia Gibson wrote last year on social media pleading for justice concerning the October 8th 2023 crash which took place shortly after midnight and also involved Maxwell’s young daughter.

The report section with then officer Blaze Hernandez quotes witnesses saying there had been yelling in the area of 4th and Ralston before a silver car described in this section as a Lexus, occupied by a male driver and female passenger, did a U-Turn, swerved into a male pedestrian, backed up and then ran over a female adult pedestrian in the street before backing the vehicle up and dragging her away.  

A second part of the report by officer Connor Kurze says he then observed a female in the middle of the road in the area of Ralston and 2nd street with obvious severe injuries to her face, chest, right hand, right hip and leg, after she had been dragged under the vehicle for several blocks.  The victim’s daughter was taken from the scene by her grandfather, while Jasmyn who had a pulse was taken to the hospital.  

“Her injuries were as horrible as you could imagine,” Gibson wrote of Jasmyn. “My friend sat by her daughter's bedside in the hospital as she fought for her life, but she was too gravely wounded. She succumbed after 11 days…There are witnesses who have yet to come forward, [and] at least one person who is actively avoiding police detectives.  Please share her post and keep Jasmyn's case out there. If you know any information, no matter how small you think it may be, please reach out to the Reno Police Department.” 

The Medical Examiner’s Report said “her injuries were so severe that they were not compatible with life,” according to the police report.  

The [daughter] listed as being born in 2017 “told me her mom, Jasmyn Maxwell, and step dad, Danny, were walking along the crosswalk when a car out of nowhere made a U-Turn,” the police narrative in a section by Zachary Souza indicates. The car then sped up, also hitting her, with the daughter saying she felt like the driver did it on purpose.

A section by Steven Welin indicates he looked for an associated vehicle, described in this section as a white Honda SUV, but that he was unable to locate it.  

Danny’s name comes up in the rest of report by Benjamin Wright as well.  The Danny in question is listed as Witness #1, a white male, born on June 14th, 1993, 5’10 with black hair and brown eyes.

“In my attempts to contact Danny, I came into contact with Angelica, his sister,” page 4 of the report indicates in the section for witness interviews.  “I spoke with Angelica on 12/12/23 about the interview with Danny. Angelica scheduled an interview for 12/17/23 at 1300. It should be noted that I attempted several times to schedule an interview with Danny. Danny would cancel the interview or not show up for the interview. Ultimately, he told me he did not remember anything and did not want to do an interview.”

“I got video from the J Resort, located at 345 N Arlington Ave. The video showed the suspect vehicle stopped in the middle of the road with Danny at the window. The car sped away from Danny at one point and did a U-turn. The vehicle then went directly at Danny and appeared to strike him. [Jasmyn] left the curb and ran into the street where she was struck by the fleeing vehicle. The video cut off after [Jasmyn] was struck and disappeared from the camera view,” the Wright section of the report states.

“It should be noted that the scene was approximately 4 block[s] long and throughout the scene were fibers from clothing, hair, and other biological material,” Wright writes in gruesome detail. 

There is a long section devoted to Kelvin Smith which proves to be inconclusive though and ends with a mention of Danny yet again. 

“On the night of the crash, Kelvin called RPD dispatch and reported that he had done something horrible in downtown Reno. Kelvin would not say what he had done but just that it was bad. He would not speak with me without a lawyer present. I attempted to get him to narrow down what type of incident had taken place, but he refused to answer,” the Wright report states. 

“Other than the phone call to dispatch, there is no evidence that Kelvin was involved in the crash. The night of the crash, there were several critical incidents in the downtown area.

I conducted a background investigation on Kelvin. I did not find any vehicles that he was associated with that were close to the suspect vehicle. I also checked the vehicles of family members and friends to see if they had a vehicle he could have used. None of the family members or friends that I checked had a similar vehicle.

I also went to several car rental companies and inquired if Kelvin had rented a car. I checked to see if any of his family or friends had rented a similar type of vehicle. All results were negative. While at the car rental companies, I checked to see if they rented a similar vehicle that was returned damaged. This also was unsuccessful, as no cars had been returned with damage within about 2 weeks of the collision.

I have been unsuccessful in locating or connecting Kelvin as the responsible driver in this case. Of note, Danny would be the only person that could identify the driver of the suspect vehicle as we know he was at the driver's side window at one point during the incident.”

Wright says he tried but failed to get a geofence warrant to get a suspect pool to investigate via the location of different cell phones at the time of the crash.  

The involved car remains an enigma as well, with its stated make changing throughout the report. “In the days following the crash, I contacted several rental car places and checked to see if they had any vehicles matching the suspect vehicle returned with any damage. I learned that none of the rental car companies had any vehicles returned damaged that matched the suspect vehicle. I also learned that only Hertz had a similar vehicle, but it was not the correct color. The closest vehicle was dark blue, not silver or white,” Wright indicates.  

He concludes Jasmyn was at fault for going into the traffic according to the video he obtained. If the driver is identified the report says they would be charged with hit and run causing death.

“At this time the case is suspended, I do not have enough information to continue with a prosecutable case. If I get more information and can identify a suspect vehicle and driver, then the investigation will become active again,” the report concludes. 

Feel free to share this article on below social media: