Man accidentally shot himself after killing limo driver, leaving bloody trail cops followed, prosecutors say

A man accused of fatally shooting a limo driver last year in Austin accidentally shot himself while fleeing, leaving a trail of blood for detectives to follow, authorities say.

Zayin Kelly, 18, faces charges of murder and armed robbery in the Dec. 3 killing of Mohammed Al Hejoj, who was working for the ridesharing company Uber when he was shot in the 1700 block of North Lotus Avenue.

After shooting Al Hejoj, Kelly was getting out of Al Hejoj’s Cadillac Escalade SUV when his gun discharged, striking him in the thigh, Cook County prosecutors said in court Tuesday.

A private surveillance camera on the block captured one of the four people who ran from the SUV saying “call 911" and “I shot myself,” according to prosecutors.

Kelly allegedly dropped the gun near the SUV and left it behind. It matched two shell casings found inside Al Hejoj’s SUV, prosecutors said.

Detectives followed a blood trail to an area near Kelly’s home. Kelly allegedly changed clothes there and then had a neighbor take him to a hospital.

Kelly didn’t provide information about where he was shot when police interviewed him at the hospital, but a bloody hospital gown that he wore while getting treatment was compared to the blood collected on a sidewalk and matched, prosecutors said.

Blood from the sidewalk also matched Kelly’s DNA taken from a swab of his cheek.

An assistant public defender for Kelly argued that prosecutors failed to prove that Kelly was likely the shooter because several people were allegedly present.

Judge David Kelly disagreed and ordered Zayin Kelly held in custody while awaiting trial.

“What the court has is overwhelming evidence you were present during the murder,” the judge said in his ruling.

Al Hejoj, from the Dunning neighborhood, had worked as a limo driver in Chicago for more than a decade after immigrating from Jordan to support his family.

A large group of Al Hejoj’s family and supporters attended the hearing Tuesday.

Saying she didn’t want to jeopardize an ongoing investigation, a woman who said she was Al Hejoj’s sister declined to comment beyond saying that the family “hoped for justice” and “could wait as long as it would take.”