In the early morning hours of June 27, 2026, a burst of gunfire shattered the weekend quiet in the parking lot of a Whataburger on Victory Drive in Marshall, Texas. When the echoes of the shots faded, 18-year-old Jassiah Hall and his 20-year-old brother, James Morrow, lay dead. Two other individuals were also wounded in the incident, their lives altered by the senseless violence that had just unfolded.
Jassiah, a recent graduate of Longview High School, was a talented football player with a bright future ahead of him; he had even earned a scholarship to play at William Penn University in Iowa. His brother James was also a collegiate football player, attending Trinity Valley Community College. The community was left in shock and mourning for the two young men whose lives were tragically cut short.
The Marshall Police Department, with assistance from several other law enforcement agencies including the Texas Rangers and the Longview Police Department, launched an immediate and intensive investigation into the shooting. Their efforts quickly led to the identification of three suspects. The day after the shooting, 19-year-old Davion McDale Brown of Dallas was apprehended by Longview police and charged with capital murder of multiple persons. Shortly thereafter, 21-year-old Jamarrio Dominique Epps of Longview was taken into custody by a SWAT team and charged with murder. The third suspect, 18-year-old Cortavian Tatum of Longview, surrendered to the authorities and was also charged with murder.
As the legal process began to unfold, the three suspects were booked into the Harrison County Jail with bonds set at $2 million for both Brown and Epps. The investigation into the double homicide remains active, with law enforcement officials indicating that further charges could be filed as they continue to piece together the events of that fatal night. The Marshall Police Chief, Cliff Carruth, expressed his condolences to the grieving families and affirmed the commitment of law enforcement to hold those responsible accountable for their actions, stating that such violence has no place in their community. The case against Davion Brown, Jamarrio Epps, and Cortavian Tatum stands as the initial step toward seeking justice for Jassiah Hall and James Morrow, two brothers whose promising futures were violently extinguished in a restaurant parking lot.
