On November 27, 2020, authorities in Jackson, Mississippi, were called to a scene that initially appeared to be a traffic accident but was quickly reclassified as a homicide investigation. The victim was identified as 24-year-old Adrian Hawkins, a Black male known to friends and family by the nickname "5 Big Hawk." The incident marked a tragic moment for the community as police worked to piece together the events leading up to his discovery.
Law enforcement officers responded to the
crash site where they found Hawkins unresponsive inside a vehicle. While the initial report suggested a wreck, further inspection revealed that he had been the victim of gun violence. It appeared that Hawkins had sustained fatal injuries inconsistent with a mere collision, leading investigators to determine he had been shot. The discovery of his body in the crashed vehicle suggested he may have been wounded prior to losing control of the car, a scenario unfortunately common in roadway shootings in the area during that period.
Following the discovery, the Jackson Police Department launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. Despite the immediate launch of inquiries and the collection of evidence from the scene where the vehicle came to rest, public records from the time did not immediately name a suspect. As with many cases involving gun violence in the city that year, investigators faced the challenge of determining whether the shooting was a targeted attack or a random act of violence on the roadway.
In the years since the incident, online databases dedicated to memorializing victims of gun violence have maintained a record of Hawkins's death, though details regarding arrests or convictions in this specific case remain sparse in public news archives. The case stands as one of several homicides from 2020 in Jackson where the community was left mourning a young life cut short, with friends and family lighting candles online to honor his memory.
