On June 2, 2021, a 26-year-old man named Kyle Daniel Craig from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was found deceased with multiple gunshot wounds on Long Branch Road in Holmes County, near the town of West. Craig, a father of two, had traveled to the area with a substantial amount of cash to purchase an ATV he had seen advertised on Facebook Marketplace. When his family was unable to reach him, they reported him missing.
Using cell phone tracking technology, his relatives were tragically led to his body.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the supposed sale of the ATV was a setup to rob Craig of his money. Authorities quickly made several arrests in connection with the robbery and homicide. The individuals taken into custody and facing capital murder charges were 17-year-old Parveion Harris, 20-year-old Montavious Landfair, and 17-year-old Darius Erving. Further investigation led to the arrests of two more suspects, 15-year-old Akarion Johnson and 18-year-old Brock Banks Jr., who were also charged as adults with capital murder. The group was accused of planning the robbery that escalated into a fatal shooting.
Kyle Craig was remembered as a loving father and a man who was passionate about the outdoors, particularly buying, selling, and rebuilding ATVs and boats. He owned and operated his own business, Craig Enterprises. The brutal nature of the crime sent shockwaves through his community, highlighting the potential dangers of online marketplace transactions.
