Joseph William “Joey” Whitt, a 47-year-old White/Caucasian male from Moss Point, Mississippi, was killed in an extraordinary and apparently accidental shooting during the early hours of January 1, 2026. Whitt was inside his residence on River Pine Drive when a bullet fired during nearby New Year’s celebrations entered his home and struck him. A family member found him on the floor at about 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day and authorities were called.
Responding officers discovered Whitt dead from a gunshot wound. Investigators found no indication that anyone had broken into his residence, and the circumstances soon pointed away from a deliberate attack inside the home.
As Moss Point police reconstructed what had happened, they determined that teenagers attending a New Year’s gathering at a nearby residence had allegedly been firing guns in celebration. Investigators believe one of those rounds traveled from the gathering, passed through a window of Whitt’s home and struck him. Although the initial police response occurred at approximately 8 a.m., members of Whitt’s family later told local news media that he apparently had been shot hours before he was discovered. Police Chief Dennis Stevenson characterized the shooting as accidental and said investigators did not believe there was an continuing threat to the public.
The investigation quickly focused on three teenagers between 15 and 16 years old who police believed were involved in the celebratory gunfire. By the night of January 1, two of the teenagers had been taken into custody. Police initially reported that both were charged with manslaughter while investigators obtained an arrest warrant and searched for the third teenager. Because the suspects were juveniles, the publicly available reporting did not identify them by name. Authorities nevertheless alleged that their handling and discharge of firearms during the celebration resulted in the bullet that entered Whitt’s residence and caused his death.
The remaining teenager was subsequently taken into custody on January 7. Moss Point Police Chief Dennis Stevenson said the teenager was turned in by his mother. WXXV reported that the third suspect was charged with negligent manslaughter and that the other two teenagers were facing the same charge. With that arrest, all three teenagers sought in connection with Whitt’s death were in custody. Police continued to describe the fatal shooting as accidental rather than an intentional effort to target Whitt.
Whitt’s death left behind a family that included his two children, Savannah Payton Whitt and Noah Whitt, his partner Melissa A. Bennett, his parents Ricky and Vickie Whitt, and his brother Richard Whitt. His obituary described him as a United States Army veteran who served with the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Funeral services were held January 10, 2026, at Memorial Funeral Home in Houston, Mississippi, followed by burial at Arbor Grove Cemetery.
Publicly available reporting located through August 18, 2026, establishes that three juvenile suspects were arrested and accused of negligent manslaughter in connection with the gunfire that killed Whitt. The available reports reviewed do not identify the teenagers, and they do not provide a later public disposition such as adult indictments, guilty pleas, juvenile adjudications, trials, convictions, acquittals or sentences. The most recent case-specific reporting located states that the investigation remained ongoing after the third teenager was taken into custody.
