In the early evening of June 27, 2022, what appeared to be a single-vehicle accident at the intersection of C Avenue and 32nd Street in Gulfport, Mississippi, was soon discovered to be a homicide. Inside a brown 2000 Buick Lesabre, police found 30-year-old Anthony Lavern Oatis Jr., who had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The subsequent investigation revealed a story of a drug deal that had escalated into a deadly armed robbery.
Oatis, along with a companion, had arranged to meet three individuals to purchase marijuana. During the encounter, an argument broke out, leading to a violent altercation. The meeting was a setup for a robbery, with the assailants targeting an iPhone 13 mini and $2,300 in cash. In the course of the robbery, Oatis was shot once in the abdomen. The suspects fled the scene in a white Dodge Challenger, leaving Oatis to die in his vehicle.
The Gulfport Police Department's investigation led them to three suspects: Erick Tyrie Hunt of Jackson, Richard 'Draco' Norman III of Gulfport, and 15-year-old Eric Jamorian Chopin of Moss Point. Investigators tracked Hunt down in Jackson after he used his phone, which police were monitoring, to call an inmate at the Harrison County jail, a call in which he discussed his involvement in the crime. Upon his arrest, Hunt confessed to firing the shot that killed Oatis. Police also recovered the murder weapon from the car Hunt was driving.
Erick Tyrie Hunt and Richard Norman III were charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery. Eric Chopin, despite his age, was charged as an adult with armed robbery. In January 2025, a jury found Hunt and Norman guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery; Norman was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. A judge subsequently sentenced both men to life in prison, with an additional 20 years. Eric Chopin pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter and armed robbery, with his sentencing scheduled for a later date.
