In the early morning hours of October 26, 2016, the quiet of South Center Street in Brookhaven, Mississippi, was broken by a grim discovery. Inside a parked car, 25-year-old Lance Tyrone Mackbee, a male resident of nearby Bogue Chitto, was found deceased. Officers had initially responded to a call about a man sleeping in his vehicle, but upon checking for a pulse, they realized he was dead.
It was soon determined that Mackbee had been shot multiple times, and the investigation into his death began. Police suspected that he had not driven himself to the location where he was found.
The investigation quickly led to a person of interest. Travis Antonio Brinson, a 21-year-old from Brookhaven, heard that the police wanted to speak with him and went to the station for questioning. Following this interview, Brinson was arrested and charged with the murder of Lance Mackbee. This was the only homicide the city of Brookhaven had experienced that year. The case seemed to be moving forward, with a bond hearing scheduled for the suspect.
However, the legal proceedings took an unexpected turn in January 2017. A municipal court judge dismissed the murder charge against Travis Antonio Brinson, citing a lack of probable cause. After having been incarcerated since his arrest, Brinson was released from jail. Despite this setback, the Brookhaven Police Chief expressed his confidence in the evidence and the witnesses they had, stating his intention to present the case directly to a grand jury for a possible indictment.
Following Brinson's release, the trail of public information regarding the murder of Lance Tyrone Mackbee grows cold. It is unclear if the case was ever presented to a grand jury or if any other suspects were identified. While Travis Antonio Brinson has had subsequent encounters with law enforcement for other alleged crimes, the resolution to the investigation into who was responsible for Lance Tyrone Mackbee's death remains publicly unresolved.
