In the late hours of November 29, 2017, the life of 25-year-old Bobby Gwin, a Black male, was tragically cut short in a room at the Deluxe Inn on Broadway Drive in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hattiesburg Police responded to reports of a shooting and discovered Gwin's body, bearing multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The initial investigation swiftly pointed to a person of interest, 34-year-old Allen Russell, who was taken into custody.
The evidence against Russell
began to mount. Surveillance footage from the motel was a key component of the investigation, reportedly showing Russell entering Gwin's room and later fleeing while dropping a pistol. This, along with other evidence gathered by detectives, led to Russell being charged with Gwin's murder. In addition to the murder charge, Russell also faced several drug-related charges, including possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. His bond was set at $250,000 for the murder charge and an additional $40,000 for the drug charges.
The legal proceedings that followed culminated in a four-day trial in April 2022. During the trial, a fellow inmate testified that Russell had admitted to killing Gwin. The inmate stated that Russell claimed he had arranged to meet a woman online but that it turned out to be a man, and things went wrong. The jury returned a guilty verdict, convicting Allen Russell of the first-degree murder of Bobby Gwin. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. An appeal of the conviction was later denied, affirming the life sentence.
