In a tragic incident on June 15, 2022, Stayvia Leone Hood, a 23-year-old female, lost her life in her D'Iberville, Mississippi, apartment. Hood, who was pregnant at the time, was eating dinner on her couch when a bullet pierced through the door of the adjacent apartment, striking and killing her.
The occupant of the neighboring apartment, 35-year-old Eric Joseph Adams, immediately called 911 to report that his rifle had unexpectedly discharged.
He informed the D'Iberville police that he was in the process of putting the weapon away when it fired. The bullet traveled through his apartment door and into Hood's residence at the Landmark of D'Iberville on Lamey Bridge Road. Upon their arrival, police forced entry into Hood's apartment and discovered her with a gunshot wound. Despite the efforts of first responders to provide life-saving measures, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the incident, Eric Joseph Adams was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He was subsequently taken to the Harrison County jail, where his bond was set at $500,000. In July 2025, Adams pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter for the deaths of Stayvia Leone Hood and her unborn child. A Circuit Court Judge sentenced him to a total of 40 years in prison, with all but 10 years suspended. The case was prosecuted by the Harrison County prosecutor's office, and before sentencing, Hood's relatives spoke about the devastating impact her death had on their family.
