OKTIBBEHA COUNTY – An Oktibbeha Circuit Court jury found Benjamin Brownlee Jr. guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder on Thursday.
The jury deliberated for about an hour before delivering the verdict, Collen Hudson, deputy district attorney for the 16th Circuit, told The Dispatch. Judge Michelle Easterling sentenced Brownlee to life in prison for the murder charge with an additional 40 years to serve consecutively for the attempted murder charge.
Brownlee, 24, was accused of fatally shooting Zavier Armstead, then 20, and injuring Brenden Clayborn, 24, during a planned drug transaction, Hudson said.
On Aug. 15, 2021, Armstead and Clayborn drove in Clayborn’s car to meet Brownlee to purchase marijuana at the Sandhills Arm apartment complex. The two were waiting with counterfeit money in the car when Brownlee unloaded 14 shots into the passenger side, Hudson said.
“The state’s theory was that (Brownlee) thought Armstead would be in the passenger side, since it was Brenden’s car,” Hudson said. “But nonetheless … a shot goes through the trunk, through the driver’s seat and between the shoulder blades of Armstead, piercing him through the chest.”
Armstead was pronounced dead on the scene while Clayborn was injured in the crossfire and eventually taken to University of Mississippi Medical Center for a gunshot wound through his jaw. He recovered from his wound and was able to testify in the trial.
“It’s miraculous how it wasn’t a double homicide,” Hudson said.
Brownlee turned himself in to the Starkville Police Department a day after the crime occurred.
The prosecution theorized Brownlee’s motive in killing Armstead hinged on a previous transaction involving counterfeit money.
“There might have been a counterfeit exchange previously between those two that he was trying to get retribution for,” Hudson said.
During the trial, Clayborn identified Brownlee as the shooter, and a neighbor testified that they saw Brownlee fleeing the scene near the time of the crime, Hudson said.
This, along with cached phone evidence collected by SPD, showed Brownlee was at the scene of the crime when the shooting occurred, and that after fleeing the scene, he sent texts asking where Clayborn and Armstead were, Hudson said.
“As soon as the 911 call came out, Brownlee’s cell phone starts to leave Sandhill apartments, and he’s actually already gone and away from Sandhill at the time,” Hudson said. “He’s sending messages saying, ‘Where are you at?’ ‘I’m going to go ahead and leave.’ ‘I don’t see you guys.’ And the state’s position was that (it) was some deception used to kind of throw off law enforcement.”
Hudson said a challenge for the prosecution and the crux of the defense’s argument was the lack of a murder weapon.
Brownlee texted he would be driving in a gray car but instead was seen driving a blue minivan that night by witnesses, which prosecutors argued was an attempt to “ambush” the two men.
“Witnesses and the Starkville Police Department … were able to show that Brownlee was driving a blue minivan at the time, which we think was also going towards the idea of an ambush and payback,” Hudson said. “That he’s trying to throw them off showing up in a blue minivan.”
Speaking of the verdict, Hudson said she hoped it restored some trust in the criminal justice system for community members and brought peace to the family members of Armstead.
“The verdict (came) back (as) guilty, which we believe was the correct verdict, and which was justice for the family of Zavier Armstead and also for Brenden Clayborn,” Hudson said.”… I hope it inspires other people to trust the system and that justice be sought through the courts and not in other means.”
Brownlee’s defense attorney Gerald Mumford, based out of Hinds County, did not return calls from The Dispatch before press time Friday.
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