In the early morning hours of June 9, 2019, a dispute at a Circle K gas station on Highway 49 in Gulfport, Mississippi, tragically cut short the life of 20-year-old Lee Barnes III, a Black/African American male from Hattiesburg. An altercation between Barnes and a woman he was with, identified as 20-year-old Breanna McClendon, also of Hattiesburg, escalated to the point where McClendon allegedly shot Barnes.
Following the shooting, in a perplexing turn of events, McClendon drove Barnes, who was critically injured, approximately 60 miles to Hattiesburg instead of seeking immediate medical help at a nearby hospital in Gulfport. Reports indicate that an unidentified bystander at the gas station, apparently unaware of the severity of Barnes's injury, assisted McClendon in getting him into a vehicle. Upon their arrival in Hattiesburg, Barnes was taken to Merit Health Wesley, where he was pronounced dead from his gunshot wound.
The Gulfport Police Department launched an investigation into the homicide, working in conjunction with the Hattiesburg Police Department. Their investigation led to the arrest of Breanna McClendon, who was charged with second-degree murder. She was subsequently booked into the Harrison County Adult Detention Center, with her bond set at $500,000. Authorities at the time sought to identify and question the individual who had helped place Barnes in the vehicle. The case left friends and family of Lee Barnes III grieving and searching for answers. As of the latest available online reports from late 2019, the legal proceedings against Breanna McClendon were pending, and no further information regarding a trial, conviction, or sentencing has been made publicly available.
