In the quiet community of Meridian, Mississippi, the life of 94-year-old Eva Carmichael, a white female, came to a tragic and violent end on March 1, 2015. Her death, which was initially reported as a result of a hang-up 911 call, was soon discovered to be a brutal murder that shook the local residents. When officers from the Meridian Police Department arrived at her home on Fifth Street, they found Mrs. Carmichael deceased inside her residence, which had clearly been burglarized.
The subsequent investigation revealed that she had been shot multiple times.
The investigation into the shocking crime moved swiftly, and within days, law enforcement officials announced the arrests of four teenagers in connection with the murder and burglary. The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Jaquis Houston, 17-year-old Deshay Shively, 18-year-old Marcus Steele II, and 18-year-old Juwan McCullum. All four were charged with capital murder and burglary. Investigators believed that Mrs. Carmichael had surprised the individuals as they were burglarizing her home, which led to her being fatally shot. Following their arrests, the four teenagers were held without bond on the capital murder charge, with a bond of $200,000 each for the burglary charge.
A preliminary hearing was held to determine if there was enough evidence to proceed to a grand jury. After the evidence was presented, the court found probable cause to believe that all four defendants were involved in the burglary and capital murder. Consequently, their case was bound over to the Lauderdale County Grand Jury. This legal step moved the case forward toward a potential trial where the guilt or innocence of the four accused individuals would be determined.
Following the grand jury indictment, the legal process continued for the four young men charged with the death of Eva Carmichael. One of the suspects, Marcus Steele II, was later convicted of second-degree murder and burglary. For these crimes, he received a sentence of 30 years for the murder and an additional 9 years for the burglary charge. The specific outcomes of the legal proceedings for the other three suspects, Jaquis Houston, Deshay Shively, and Juwan McCullum, including details of any trials, plea agreements, or convictions, are not detailed in the available online sources. A later unrelated federal firearms charge was found for Jaquis Houston.
