In the late summer evening of August 19, 2024, tragedy struck in Booneville, Mississippi, claiming the life of 18-year-old Damarion Calvin of Tupelo. The young man, known to friends and family as 'Kaso,' was fatally shot inside a vehicle at the August Circle apartments around 6:45 p.m. Another individual in the car, 35-year-old Santetoris Copeland, was also wounded in the gunfire but managed to flee the scene along with two other people, 24-year-old Marcus Wood and a 16-year-old.
Copeland was later treated for his injuries and released from a local hospital.
The investigation into the shooting led Booneville police to a person of interest. Within a week of the incident, authorities arrested 21-year-old Jayce Bryson West of Baldwin in connection with the homicide. West was subsequently charged with one count of first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of shooting into a motor vehicle. He was held without bond.
This was not West's first encounter with the law. He had gained notoriety in 2017 when, at the age of 14, he and two other teenagers were indicted on capital murder charges in the shooting death of a 70-year-old man in Baldwyn. More recently, West had been arrested in Booneville on a statutory rape charge just over a year prior to the shooting of Damarion Calvin. In January 2024, he faced a felony charge for possession of marijuana enhanced with a firearm. The community mourned the loss of Damarion Calvin, who was remembered as a funny, sweet, and vibrant young man.
