In the early morning hours, Roy Love, a 60-year-old man, was working as a security guard at the M&M Food Express, a convenience store and gas station on Cooper Road in south Jackson, Mississippi. It was a job he had held for over a decade, one where he was a familiar and reassuring presence to the regulars. His shift that day would tragically be his last.
He was a man described by his wife as a dedicated hard worker with a heart for people, who cared deeply for his community.
Around 1:30 a.m., Love approached three teenagers in the parking lot and asked them to leave the premises. What began as a routine request escalated into a fatal confrontation. The three teenagers attacked Love, and in the ensuing struggle, they took his weapon from him. They then used his own firearm to shoot him. Surveillance footage from the convenience store captured the tragic encounter, showing that Love never drew his weapon. The motive behind the deadly assault, according to the Jackson Police Chief, was the theft of the security guard's firearm.
The three teenagers fled the scene after the shooting, two on foot and one on a bicycle. However, their freedom was short-lived. Within hours, officers from the Jackson Police Department apprehended the three suspects. The individuals arrested were two 17-year-old boys, Trent Wooten and Zaylon Norton, and a 16-year-old boy, Kadaris Cohen. All three have been charged with capital murder. A judge subsequently denied them bond. In the wake of this senseless violence, Love's family and community were left to mourn the loss of a man who was a beloved husband and a respected figure in his neighborhood.
