In the small Delta town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, a minor dispute escalated into a tragedy that claimed the lives of a father and son, leaving the community in shock. On November 27, 2017, 26-year-old Alex Jennings Jr., known to his loved ones as 'Mookey,' and his 47-year-old father, Alex Jennings Sr., affectionately called 'Ace,' were fatally shot. The incident unfolded at the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 16, a crossroads that would forever be marked by the violence of that day.
The events leading to the fatal encounter began with a fistfight. A witness at the scene described seeing Alex Jennings Jr. and a man named Steven Lewis fighting, while simultaneously, Alex Jennings Sr. was engaged in a physical altercation with Lewis's brother and a friend. The chaotic scene took a deadly turn when Lewis and the younger Jennings fell to the ground together. A gunshot rang out, and Alex Jennings Jr. lay motionless.
Following the initial shot, the violence did not subside. Lewis then got up and began fighting with Alex Jennings Sr. The witness recounted the harrowing sight of Lewis standing over the elder Jennings before inflicting the fatal wounds. In the aftermath of the altercation, both father and son were dead, and the community was left to grapple with the senseless loss of two of its members.
Steven Lewis was subsequently arrested and charged with the murders. While he admitted to shooting both men, his defense centered on a claim of self-defense. The case proceeded to a jury trial in the Sharkey County Circuit Court. After hearing the evidence and testimony, the jury found Steven Lewis guilty of the first-degree murder of Alex Jennings Sr. and the second-degree murder of Alex Jennings Jr. As a result of his conviction, Lewis was sentenced to serve consecutive terms of life imprisonment and forty years, ensuring he would be held accountable for the double homicide that irrevocably fractured a family and a community.
