Cortez Houston, a 23-year-old Black man, was fatally shot in Jackson, Mississippi, on February 8, 2018. The shooting occurred in the area of Bow Street and Blair Street. Jackson police received a call at approximately 9:13 that morning reporting that a person was lying in the street. When officers reached the area, they found Houston with a gunshot wound to the head.
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart later confirmed that the head wound caused his death.
Another report placed the police response in the 900 block of Blair Street near Bow Street. Houston was found after the morning shooting, and witnesses at the scene told investigators that a woman had shot him. Authorities did not publicly describe in the initial reports what led up to the gunfire, whether an argument preceded the shooting, or what investigators believed the motive to be.
Within hours, investigators had an identified suspect. Melsynvia Ward, who was 22 at the time, surrendered herself to police later that day. Jackson police charged Ward with murder in connection with Houston's death. Houston's relatives told local news reporters that Ward was his girlfriend and that she was also the mother of his 6-year-old child. Following her arrest, Ward was reported to be held without bond.
The available contemporary reporting shows that the investigation moved from the discovery of Houston in the street to Ward's surrender and murder charge within the same day. Witness accounts were an important part of the early investigation, with people at the scene reporting that a woman was responsible for the shooting. Police publicly sought additional information from anyone who might know more about what happened.
Publicly accessible news coverage located for the case documents Ward's arrest and murder charge but does not provide a reliable later account of a trial, conviction, acquittal, dismissal, plea agreement, or other final disposition of that charge. The last clearly documented development in the available reporting is that Ward surrendered, was charged with murder, and was being held without bond following Houston's fatal shooting.
