WEST POINT — The more details revealed in the New Year’s Day shooting death of Devin Mitchell, the more questions arise.
The accused shooter, Tavaris F. Collins, 31, didn’t know Mitchell, who was shot and killed at age 16 in front of his cousin’s home at Ridgewood East Apartments. Police said Collins didn’t see Mitchell when he fired into darkness at what he said was someone firing at him.
West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley said fireworks being used by residents that night might have been mistaken for gunfire. But residents of the apartment complex, who declined to be identified, said most of the New Year’s Eve festivities were over by the time the shooting took place, at approximately 2:55 a.m.
“There really wasn’t anyone outside at that point,” one resident said. “I didn’t too much hear fireworks.”
Mitchell was visiting his cousin, Queenie Walker, at the time of his death. Walker said Mitchell wasn’t using fireworks that night and there weren’t people standing around outside when he was shot.
Multiple residents said they distinctly remember hearing four shots fired that night, and within minutes, police arrived. One of the four shots struck Mitchell in the head.
Brinkley said Collins didn’t leave the scene and was taken into custody shortly after police arrived.
“There was a crowd gathered immediately after but no witnesses that actually saw it,” Brinkley said.
There was “quite some distance” between Collins and Mitchell when the shots were fired, Brinkley said, but he declined to say where exactly Collins was when he fired. And without witnesses who actually witnessed the shooting, it’s unclear where Collins was standing.
One resident said Collins was a regular at the apartment complex, usually visiting people he knew. He was surprised Collins fired his gun because he remembered him as a “laid-back person” who always had his 1-year-old daughter with him when he was at the complex.
“It’s sad,” said the resident, who didn’t want to be identified. “I hate it for both of their families. We’re still in shock.”
Brinkley declined to release information about the firearm, which was recovered at the scene. He said he hopes ballistics tests match the weapon to the bullets fired. Collins lived in Tupelo and was visiting friends or attending a party.
Collins remains in Clay County Jail with a $2.2 million bond for one murder charge and two counts of felony weapon possession. At Collins’ initial appearance in municipal court, Judge Mark Cliett entered a not guilty plea on his behalf because Collins did not have a lawyer.
Collins was convicted of aggravated assault in 1997, a spokeswoman at the Mississippi Department of Corrections said Friday. In 1998, he was convicted of cocaine possession and was sent to the Mississippi Department of Corrections before being released in 2007. Both arrests happened in Clay County.
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