In the late hours of a Wednesday in Picayune, Mississippi, a call to emergency services about a potential drug overdose set in motion a chain of events that would uncover a tragic homicide. On February 12, 2025, a 26-year-old African American man named Joshua Amon Littles was found deceased, not from an overdose as initially suspected, but from the stark reality of gun violence. A former standout football player for Picayune Memorial High School and Jackson State University, Littles' life was cut short in a manner that shocked his community.
That evening, Picayune police officers were dispatched to Fern Drive around 10:09 p.m. following a report of a man who seemed to have overdosed and was seen running towards a vehicle. As law enforcement neared the area, their attention was drawn to two cars with flashing lights on Martin Luther King Boulevard. There, they encountered a man, later identified as Tyler Wilcox, walking away from the vehicles. When he turned, a handgun was visible in his waistband. Wilcox's behavior was described as erratic and his speech incoherent; at one point he reportedly asked the officers if they intended to shoot him before he threw his weapon nearby. After a brief struggle, Wilcox was tased and taken into custody. He claimed to have been 'laced' with an unknown substance and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
While Wilcox was en route to the hospital, a second call came in from the same Fern Drive location, this time reporting a deceased person on a carport. At this residence, a short distance from where Wilcox had been detained, officers discovered the body of Joshua Littles, who had sustained a fatal gunshot wound. Investigators also found that the house itself had been fired upon. The proximity of the events and the unfolding evidence quickly led authorities to identify Tyler Wilcox as the primary suspect in the shooting.
In the aftermath of the discovery, Tyler Wilcox was charged with the murder of Joshua Littles. The initial charges of murder and attempted murder were later updated to include shooting into a dwelling, attempted home invasion, and possession of a stolen firearm, painting a grim picture of the night's violent turn. The investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the death of Joshua Littles remains ongoing. The community was left to mourn a young man known for his athletic prowess and infectious smile, his promising future tragically extinguished.
