In the quiet town of Crenshaw, Mississippi, the evening of Sunday, October 24, 2021, was shattered by a hail of gunfire that left two young men dead and three others wounded. One of the victims was 19-year-old Deshun Anderson, a male resident of Crenshaw. The violent outburst erupted at the Marie Lyles Meadows Apartments on Jones Street, located on the Quitman County side of the town.
When law enforcement arrived, they discovered a chaotic scene with between 60 and 100 spent shell casings from multiple firearms scattered across the ground, bearing silent witness to the ferocity of the attack.
Alongside Deshun Anderson, another man, 24-year-old Derrick Smalls Jr., also lost his life in the shooting. Three other individuals were critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. From the outset, investigators believed the shooting was not a random act of violence but a targeted and deliberate assault. The Quitman County Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, immediately launched an intensive investigation into the double homicide.
The investigation soon pointed to a connection with other violent crimes in the region. Authorities announced that the Crenshaw shooting was likely a retaliatory act linked to a murder that had occurred in Horn Lake, Mississippi. It was revealed that Derrick Smalls Jr., one of the deceased, was himself awaiting trial for a murder charge in Horn Lake at the time of his death. This revelation suggested a grim cycle of gang-related violence. As the investigation progressed, a prime suspect emerged: 21-year-old Quenten Cortez Taylor. A multi-agency manhunt was initiated to locate and apprehend him.
After weeks of searching, which involved local law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals, Quenten Cortez Taylor was located and arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, in early December 2021. He was taken into custody without incident and subsequently charged with two counts of felony murder for the deaths of Deshun Anderson and Derrick Smalls Jr., as well as three counts of aggravated assault for the injuries sustained by the other victims. While an arrest has been made, the final disposition of the charges against Taylor and details of the court proceedings that followed have not been publicly reported.
