In the winter of 2015, a violent act in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, cut short the life of 69-year-old Carolyn Temple. On the evening of January 7th, while bringing in a garbage can at her boyfriend's home, she was accosted by assailants intent on stealing her purse. During the struggle, she was shot in the stomach. Despite being rushed to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and undergoing surgery, Carolyn Temple succumbed to her injuries five days later, on
January 12, 2015.
The investigation into the fatal robbery and shooting quickly led authorities to three teenage suspects. Antreal Jones and Jerome Moore, both 17 at the time, were apprehended following a standoff with law enforcement. A third suspect, 16-year-old Antwain Dukes, was also identified, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of capital murder. All three teenagers were subsequently indicted for capital murder and armed carjacking in connection with the attack on Temple.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, Jerome Moore was convicted of capital murder in 2016. While it was established that he did not fire the weapon that killed Temple, he was found to have driven the getaway vehicle and supplied the gun used in the crime. His defense team argued that his confession had been coerced by investigators, but the jury returned a guilty verdict after several hours of deliberation. Though initially facing a life sentence, the Mississippi Supreme Court later granted Moore a new sentencing hearing in 2019. The cases against Antreal Jones and Antwain Dukes also proceeded through the court system, with grand jury indictments for capital murder being handed down for both.
