In the late hours of a Tuesday evening in June 2016, a dispute outside the Sandfield One Stop convenience store on Main Street in Columbus, Mississippi, escalated to a fatal conclusion. Deanthony Jones, a 23-year-old male, was shot multiple times following an altercation. First responders arrived at the scene to find Jones with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, where he was pronounced dead in the early hours of the following morning.
The Columbus Police Department quickly identified 27-year-old Darrion Walls as the suspect in the shooting. A public appeal was made for information on his whereabouts. Not long after, Walls, accompanied by his family, turned himself in to the authorities at the police department. Upon surrendering, Walls complained of chest and stomach pains and was taken to the hospital for treatment before being placed in custody at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
Following his arrest, a Columbus Municipal Court judge set Walls' bond at $1 million. In August 2018, Darrion Walls pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Deanthony Jones. He was sentenced to serve 35 years in prison, with an additional five years of probation to follow his release. Reports after the shooting indicated that the incident led to a number of retaliatory crimes in the area.
