Justin Beeler identified as road rage fatal

The man killed in a road rage incident on Southern Parkway Tuesday afternoon has been identified as 29-year-old Justin D. Beeler.

Beeler lived about a half mile south of where his Dodge Challenger struck a tree in the median of the parkway near Churchill Downs, deputy coroner Rita Taylor said. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, she said.

Louisville police say Beeler, of the 500 block of Camden Avenue, and another man in a Chrysler 300 were chasing each other about 12:30 p.m. when Beeler struck the tree. The Chrysler was riddled with bullet holes, and police said they think Beeler shot at the Chrysler.

No one was in custody Wednesday as Louisville police continued to investigate.

The driver of the Chrysler was questioned by police, but has not been taken into custody, Louiville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said Wednesday morning.

Surveillance footage from Sissy's Liquors on Fifth Street just south of the incident showed the two men outside the store moments before the chase and crash. Beeler arrived at the store first, bought a Pepsi and cigarillos, then left the store. The video, recorded about 20 minutes before the crash, shows him getting into his car when the Chrysler pulls up behind him.

The video shows both drivers get out of their cars, encounter each other with no noticeable exchange before returning to their vehicles, and drive off.

Tuesday's chase is the second instance of apparent road rage in Louisville in a month's time.

Donald Hayes, 67, has pleaded not guilty to shooting Danny Wilson to death in a road rage incident on Poplar Level Road June 21.

Reporter Patrick T. Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4335 or on Twitter @CJ_PSullivan.