Annapolis Cab Driver Victim of Crownsville Homicide

Detectives are investigating the apparent homicide of an Annapolis cab driver in Crownsville on Wednesday morning, according to the Anne Arundel County Police.

The victim has been identified as Benjamin Delano Kirby Jr., 41, of Annapolis.

Officers are conducting the investigation in the area of Honeysuckle Lane near Generals Highway, says WUSA TV.

 That location is where police found Kirby’s minivan cab unoccupied at about 6 a.m., its door left open with signs of an apparent struggle inside, reports Capital-Gazette.com.

Officers searched the area around the vehicle on foot and discovered the victim's body with what police referred to as "upper body trauma," says WJLA TV.

Members of Kirby's family gathered near the crime scene and identified the cab as his. The victim’s father, Benjamin Kirby Sr., 71, told the Capital-Gazette he had purchased the cab for his son several months ago. The younger Kirby was released from a 14-year stint in prison two years ago and had been getting back on his feet, his father said.

The younger man was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with no possibility of parole during the first 10, in 2000 after pleading guilty to possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, according to online court records.

Recruits from the county's police academy were called in to search the area for evidence.