On the evening of Saturday, March 5, 2016, a violent incident disrupted the quiet of a residential neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. Residents were enjoying the weekend atmosphere on South Westhaven Drive when gunfire erupted around 6:30 p.m. In the front yard of a home, 22-year-old Hispanic male Daniel Omar Gomez and his acquaintance, Eli Nunez Sanchez, were grilling food.
The casual gathering took a tragic turn when two individuals drove past the residence and opened fire on the men in what authorities later described as an apparent robbery attempt.
The assailants, described by witnesses as two African American men wearing dark clothing, fled the scene immediately after the attack. The gunfire struck both victims multiple times and also killed a family dog present in the yard. Eli Nunez Sanchez succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Daniel Gomez was critically wounded and transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
In the wake of the double homicide, the Jackson Police Department launched an investigation into the senseless violence that had claimed two lives and a pet. Investigators eventually identified a suspect in connection with the shootings. Anthony Harris was apprehended and charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of Gomez and Sanchez. The case marked the beginning of a particularly violent period in the city, occurring just hours before another fatal shooting at a nearby gas station that same night.
