Jackson Free Press

This weekend, after two consecutively low weeks of crime in the city, five people were murdered in Jackson. Saturday evening, two Hispanic men, Daniel Omar Gomez and Eli Nunez, were shot and killed, along with a dog, during an apparent robbery while they were grilling in their front yard on South Westhaven Drive in west Jackson. The two males suspects, who are African American, fled the scene wearing dark clothing, police say.

Later that night at about 10:47 p.m., a second shooting at Fuel Time gas station at 4556 Siwell Road left another man, Terrance Durr, dead and one injured. JPD says the victim "had an altercation" with suspect Kendrick Morris who produced a gun, shot Durr multiple times and fled the scene by foot. Morris has been charged with one count of Murder and one count of Aggravated Assault and is still at large.

Last night, three people were shot in an apparent shoot-out on Fontaine Avenue near Lake Hico in northeast Jackson. One man died at the scene and another is in stable condition at UMMC. An innocent bystander, a woman, was struck by a stray bullet and died after crashing her car in an attempt to drive herself to the hospital.

"The last 48 hours were chaotic," Jackson Police Chief Vance told the Jackson Free Press today. He said there are no suspects in the robbery on South Westhaven or the shoot-out, but police have strong leads for the gas-station murder.

"This is just a tragic, tragic weekend, and the only thing we can do is to continue to be resolute that we are going to make this situation better, because right now, you have people that are living in fear of being shot, and we certainly can't continue to go on like that," Vance said at a late night-press conference, WAPT reported.

Tuesday, March 8, Rodney L. Odie was shot in northeast Jackson while sitting in the driver's seat of Honda Accord. He suffered a single gunshot wound to the neck and died on the scene. Robbery and Homicide detectives identified Marko Loving and Sebastian Sanders as suspects, and soon after arrested Marko Loving for murder. Detectives are still searching for Sebastian Sanders.

JPD's weekly Comstat report, released last week, show that Precinct 1 and 2 both had lower rates in crime last week over 2015, with Precinct 1 down 25.6 percent and Precinct 2 down 39.9 percent year-to-date. Precinct 3 had an increase in overall crime at 3.1 percent, and Precinct 4 saw 0.3 percent increase, which registers to one extra crime over last week's numbers. Aside from grand larceny, which increased 15.2 percent year-to-date, property crimes are down 18.4 percent over 2015. Violent crimes against persons are up 7.9 percent, with a significant drop in rape at 37.5 percent over 2015. Homicides held steady over 2015 with seven occurring this year prior to this weekend, bringing the year-to-date total to 12.

"It's going to take more than police," Lee said last night. "It's going to take the entire community to say: 'We're not going to accept this. We're not going to be desensitized by events like (those that) have occurred this weekend. We're just not going to have it in our city, and if you know something, you need to tell us so we can continue to hold these people accountable,'" Vance said.

Anyone with any information on Kendrick Morris, Sebastian Sanders or any crime tips is urged to contact the Jackson Police Department at 601-960-1234 or 601-355-TIPS (8477).

Email crime news to deputy news editor Maya Miller at [email protected].