On a tragic Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, Brandon Wayne Box, a 30-year-old Caucasian man from Gulfport, Mississippi, was fatally shot in a road rage incident on Interstate 10 near the Ocean Springs exit. The violent encounter spanned approximately 17 miles, beginning near the Moss Point exit around 4:30 p.m. Box was driving his white 2019 Dodge Ram truck when an altercation began with the occupants of a small white SUV bearing a Louisiana license plate.
The situation escalated when a
firecracker was reportedly thrown from the SUV into the bed of Box's truck near the Pascagoula bridge rest area. Subsequently, multiple 9mm shots were fired from the SUV, with at least one striking Box. His truck was found riddled with bullet holes. Box was transported to Ocean Springs Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound.
In the wake of the shooting, law enforcement, including the Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, sought help from the public to identify the suspect vehicle and its occupants, described as a Black woman driving and a Black man in the passenger seat. Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers offered a reward for information leading to an arrest. Box's wife, Jessica Hanson Box, also made a public plea for any witnesses to come forward.
Less than two months later, on July 20, 2020, authorities announced the arrest of 24-year-old Janvique Entrael Franklin Jr., a resident of Hammond, Louisiana. Investigators were led to Franklin after a responding officer at a domestic violence call in Hammond noticed a 9mm handgun. The weapon was later confirmed to be the one used in the fatal shooting of Box. Franklin was taken into custody in Louisiana and later admitted to firing the shots. He was charged with manslaughter and awaited extradition to Mississippi to face prosecution.
