Four teenagers have been charged with murder in the wake of a shooting last week in East Columbus, and more arrests may be on the way, Police Chief Joseph Daughtry announced at a Monday afternoon press conference.
Police responded to a shots-fired call at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at the 200 block of North McCrary Road in East Columbus, Daughtry said. When officers arrived they found Labronze Moore, 17, of Columbus with a gunshot wound to the head.
Moore was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle by ambulance, Daughtry said. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said Moore died Saturday. An autopsy will be performed by the state medical examiner’s office in Pearl.
Daughtry said Tavaris Laquond Mixon, 18, and Johnny Coleman, Rasheed Neal and Kenzel Guyton, all of whom are 17, have been arrested and charged with murder, Daughtry said. All are being charged as adults.
Booking photos for Coleman, Neal and Guyton had not been processed at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center by press time, and so they were not publicly available.
The victim and the suspects all knew each other, Daughtry said. The motive is still unclear.
“We have individuals who are getting into it over social media or (neighborhood) stuff,” Daughtry said. “I don’t know if it’s Instagram or Snapchap or just because you’re in my ‘hood. We know they knew each other, but as far as the ongoing feud we haven’t gotten that far yet.”
Daughtry declined to say how many shooters were involved or how many shots were fired, citing the ongoing investigation.
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, who also attended the press conference, appealed to the citizens of Columbus to “put down your guns.”
“You bring grief to your family,” Jones said. “If you have a gun and want to get rid of it, bring it to the police department.”
Daughtry also encouraged citizens — or concerned family members — to get rid of their guns.
“If you’ve got a gun, or if a parent finds a gun in their child’s home, bring it here,” Daughtry said. “Bring it here so we can get these guns off the streets.”
The killing was the third Columbus homicide of 2023, Daughtry said.
The first was in May, when Undra Lamorris Williams, 30, was arrested for killing Devan Thompson, 33, and wounding four others at the Inferno Sports Bar. The second was in August, when Traylen Rodsean Colvin, 19, was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Jarion Trentel Griffin, 26, in an apartment at 202 11th Avenue S.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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