On the evening of April 21, 2021, law enforcement officers in Columbus, Mississippi, were dispatched to a residence on Poplar Street following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival at the home in the eastern part of the city, first responders discovered a chaotic scene resulting from a domestic dispute. Inside the residence, authorities found Tasha Yvette Gunn Hull, a 41-year-old Black female, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Despite the arrival of emergency personnel, she was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lowndes County Coroner.
The investigation determined that the violence was perpetrated by Tasha’s estranged husband, 43-year-old Willie Lee Hull. According to police reports, the couple was married but had been living apart when Willie arrived at the home that night. An argument ensued, escalating rapidly until Willie produced a firearm and discharged it multiple times, striking both his wife and their adult daughter. The daughter, aged approximately 18 or 19, sustained critical injuries and was airlifted to a trauma center in Jackson for advanced medical treatment.
Willie Lee Hull also sustained gunshot wounds during the incident and was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, where he later succumbed to his injuries. While investigators recovered a weapon at the scene, initial reports did not definitively conclude whether Willie’s fatal wound was self-inflicted. Because the primary suspect died shortly after the attack, there were no arrests, trials, or convictions connected to the case. Law enforcement officials subsequently closed the search for suspects, classifying the tragedy as a murder-suicide event arising from domestic violence.
