In the afternoon hours of a mid-January day in Moss Point, Mississippi, the life of Mario Applewhite Jr., a 24-year-old male, was abruptly cut short. On January 15, 2025, police responded to calls of shots fired near the intersection of Joseph Avenue and Tisdale Lane. Upon their arrival, they discovered Mr. Applewhite inside a vehicle, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound.
Known affectionately to friends and family as 'Rio Grandz,' Mario was a 2020 graduate of Moss Point High School. He had a passion for travel basketball, having played with the MS Elite Bulldogs. Following his graduation, he pursued a career as a truck driver, earning his Commercial Driver's License and working for MayMar Trucking, a job that allowed him to see the country.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement began their investigation, with detectives processing the scene for hours. The Moss Point Police Chief stated that they did not have any information regarding a suspect at the time. As of the initial reports, no arrests had been made in connection with the homicide, and the authorities were seeking information from the public to help piece together the events that led to the shooting.
