In the early moments of February 27, 2019, the sound of rapid gunfire shattered the quiet of a Gulfport, Mississippi neighborhood. Responding to calls just after midnight, police arrived at a duplex in the 3000 block of 8th Avenue to a grim scene. Outside the residence lay the body of 31-year-old Maxwell Phillips, a Black / African American male who had been fatally shot.
Inside the home, officers discovered a second victim, 18-year-old Brooklyn Alsobrooke of Sweeny, Texas, who had also died from gunshot wounds. Authorities quickly determined that the pair, who lived together at the duplex, were the intended targets of what was described as a violent and targeted attack.
The investigation into the double homicide began immediately, with police canvassing the area for evidence and leads. A neighbor came forward, recounting the terrifying moments when they heard the shots and then witnessed two men, both dressed in black, fleeing from the duplex and disappearing into the night. Despite this eyewitness account, the identities of the two men remained a mystery. Gulfport Police Chief Leonard Papania confirmed that investigators believed the attack was not random and that Phillips and Alsobrooke were specifically targeted, although a clear motive for the killings was not immediately apparent. No suspects were publicly named, and no arrests have been made in connection with the murders, leaving the case unsolved.
As detectives delved into the victims' backgrounds, a complex picture of Maxwell Phillips emerged. At the time of his death, he was out on bond for a serious charge of human trafficking from an arrest in July 2018. The alleged victim in that case was a 17-year-old girl from Sweeny, Texas, who was identified as Brooklyn Alsobrooke. Despite a court order prohibiting contact between them, Alsobrooke was living with Phillips when they were killed. Phillips had a previous human trafficking charge from 2014 involving a different minor, though a grand jury had declined to indict him in that instance. While the connection to the ongoing human trafficking case was prominent, police stated they had no direct evidence to suggest it was the motive for the murders. The investigation into who killed Maxwell Phillips and Brooklyn Alsobrooke and why continues.
