In the early morning hours of February 28, 2018, the life of Dewayne Willis Jones Sr., a 41-year-old male from Abbeville, Mississippi, was tragically cut short. His body was discovered by Lafayette County sheriff's deputies around 5:30 a.m. in a parking lot on County Road 104, also known as College Hill Switch Road, on the outskirts of Oxford. Jones had been shot multiple times with a high-powered rifle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The initial report to law enforcement was of gunshots heard in the area.
The investigation into his death swiftly progressed, and within days, four local residents were taken into custody. The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department announced the arrests of Melvin “Scooby” Johnson, 24; Learica Harris, 23; Keontae Harris, 19; and Kentarious Kirkwood, who was 16 at the time. Despite his age, Kirkwood was to be charged as an adult. All four individuals were charged with capital murder, and the motive behind the fatal shooting was identified by authorities as a robbery attempt. Following their arrests, each of the accused was held at the Lafayette County Detention Center on a $2 million bond.
In the subsequent legal proceedings, the cases against two of the suspects reached a resolution in the spring of 2019. As part of a plea deal, the charges for Kentarious Kirkwood and Learica Harris were reduced from capital murder to second-degree murder. In March 2019, Kirkwood pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with 12 of those years suspended, meaning he is to serve 28 years. Learica Harris accepted the same plea agreement in April of that year and received an identical sentence. At that time, Melvin “Scooby” Johnson and Keontae Harris were still awaiting their trials. Johnson also faced an additional felony charge for possessing a cell phone while incarcerated.
