In the early morning hours of February 27, 2019, the sound of gunshots shattered the quiet of a Gulfport, Mississippi neighborhood. When police responded to the calls at a duplex on 8th Avenue around 12:15 AM, they discovered a grim scene. Inside the residence, they found 18-year-old Brooklyn Alsobrook, a Caucasian female, deceased from gunshot wounds. Just outside the home lay the body of 31-year-old Maxwell Phillips, who had also been fatally shot.
The two had been living together in the duplex.
Authorities immediately began investigating the deaths as a targeted double homicide. A neighbor reported hearing the gunshots and seeing two individuals fleeing the area. Despite a thorough four-hour canvass of the neighborhood for evidence, police did not immediately identify any suspects. The Gulfport Police Department has been actively investigating the case, but it has since been classified as a cold case.
Further investigation into the background of the victims revealed a complicated history. Maxwell Phillips had been previously arrested on human trafficking charges. Court records later confirmed that Brooklyn Alsobrook, originally from Sweeny, Texas, had been named as a victim in one of the human trafficking cases against him. While authorities have acknowledged this connection, they have not publicly stated if it was a motive in the double murder. To date, no arrests have been made, and the two individuals seen running from the scene have not been identified.
